BJP clears key hurdle, paving way for much-awaited national Presidential transition
New Delhi, Jul 3: As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) completed internal elections in over half of its state units this week, the path has formally cleared for the party to elect its next national president. But while the procedural preconditions may now be fulfilled, a deeper deadlock persists, according to some media reports, between the BJP and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Rediff.com reported that on Tuesday, five more state units of the BJP, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh, chose their new chiefs. A day earlier, elections had been held in Puducherry and Mizoram. With this, 22 out of the BJP’s 37 state units have now completed their organisational elections, crossing the constitutional threshold required to elect a new national president. In Mumbai, Ravindra Chavan, a former minister and close aide of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was unanimously elected the Maharashtra BJP president. The media reported that in Uttarakhand, Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Bhatt was re-elected to the top post. Himachal Pradesh saw the return of five-time MLA Rajiv Bindal as its state chief. In Telangana, former MLC and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad veteran N. Ramchander Rao succeeded Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, while in Andhra Pradesh, senior leader P.V.N. Madhav was elected unopposed.
West Bengal too had joined the ranks, with Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya being elected the new state BJP president. ANI reported that outgoing chief Sukanta Majumdar passed the baton with a parting remark that echoed the party’s combative stance: “This is a continuous relay race… the fight will now take place under the leadership of a new president… We will continue to fight to uproot Mamata Banerjee’s government.”
Yet even as state-level changes gather pace, the vacuum at the top remains unfilled. BJP president J.P. Nadda’s extended term formally ended on June 30, 2024. He was given a one-year extension. His original term concluded in January 2023 but was prolonged to steer the party through the general elections. The extension gave the BJP time, but not, it seems, clarity.
Sources quoted by India Today suggest that an internal consensus on a successor remains elusive, in part due to reservations within the RSS. The Sangh is reportedly keen on someone with strong organisational credentials rather than a leader chosen for optics or factional loyalty. The RSS is also said to be nudging the party to mirror organisational changes with reforms in government functioning.
All eyes are now on the RSS’s annual Akhil Bharatiya Prant Pracharak Baithak, a closed-door conclave of its top brass scheduled for July 4–6 in New Delhi. RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, and other senior functionaries are expected to be present. The BJP leadership is likely to engage in consultations on the sidelines of the event, raising hopes that the deadlock may finally be resolved.
Still, the broader picture points to a deeper unease within the Sangh Parivar. Prime Minister Modi’s unprecedented visit to the RSS headquarters in Nagpur earlier this year (March 2025), the first in his 11 years in power, was widely seen as an effort to rebuild bridges. That such outreach was necessary at all, and that a consensus has still not emerged, speaks to the strategic and ideological crosscurrents within the ruling ecosystem.
Meanwhile, delays persist even at some of the important states. In Uttar Pradesh, India’s most politically critical state, caste dynamics have complicated the choice of a new BJP president. The names of Dalit and OBC leaders are reportedly being discussed between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, but no final decision has been made. In Karnataka, BS Yediyurappa is lobbying for his son BY Vijayendra to retain control of the party, though factional pushback continues.
The indecision is not merely symbolic. With major state elections due in Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka over the next two years, the BJP faces a critical organisational moment. The party needs a leader who can not only manage internal equations but also build a long-term roadmap. Several names are being circulated, all with varying degrees of experience, caste appeal, regional influence, and comfort with the RSS. There is also talk of the party potentially choosing a woman leader, an option that would carry symbolic heft and strategic advantage in states like Bengal and Odisha.
At stake is not just a nameplate at 11 Ashoka Road, the BJP’s headquarters. The next president will shape the party’s campaign strategy, reconcile regional ambitions, manage caste recalibrations, and lead the ideological messaging. The newly elected President needs to define how the BJP continues to dominate the political landscape and envisions itself beyond Modi’s leadership. As the RSS meet concludes on July 6, a clearer picture may emerge. Until then, the BJP remains in a holding pattern, organisationally fortified, electorally dominant, but internally uncertain. The question is no longer when the party will choose its next leader, but whether it can do so in a way that preserves unity and prepares for the future. The clock is ticking.
