Efforts to build a consensus between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to elect the new national president will reportedly begin in mid-December. Current BJP president JP Nadda is contesting with extension because the 2024 elections are not over yet.
In June 2019, JP Nadda became the working president of the BJP and by January 2020, he had become the full-time president. Earlier its mandate was extended due to the Lok Sabha elections, but in view of this year’s assembly elections, the BJP did not risk a change.
It is said that after the end of the BJP membership drive, the organization’s election process has begun in the states, and after the election of the state presidents, it will be the turn of the national president. It is also said that in the next two months, when the BJP gets a new president, there will also be major changes in the organisation.
BL Santosh becomes a strong contender!
Due to a statement by JP Nadda during the Lok Sabha elections, relations between RSS and BJP had deteriorated somewhat but are now considered good. The only difference is that the free hand given by the Sangh no longer exists.
During the Lok Sabha elections, JP Nadda had even said that the BJP had become so capable on its own that it did not need much help from the Sangh, but his statement proved very costly for the BJP. The Sangh folded and the BJP could not even get a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha elections.
In such a situation, it is certain that whoever becomes BJP president will not be chosen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah; Whatever name the BJP chooses, only the Sangh will put the final seal.
It cannot be said that the Sangh is going to propose any name in its own name, even now it will only give its opinion, but it must not be forgotten that the opinion of the Sangh will be no less than an order.
The names that were speculated so far include: Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Vinod Tawde, Devendra Fadnavis, Sunil Bansal and Bhupendra Yadav. Different arguments were being given behind each name depending on its importance.
Devendra Fadnavis was also considered to be in the lead in the race for the Maharashtra elections, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan was also considered the Sangh’s favorite leader. Once, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s name also cropped up amid the dispute between Sangh and BJP, but now she too is out of the discussion.
Recently, the name that is getting more emphasis is BL Santosh. BL Santosh is currently the organizational general secretary of the BJP. And this position is considered very powerful in all parties.
Why BL Santosh is the strongest contender?
1. BL Santosh hails from Karnataka, South India. The same Karnataka where BS Yediyurappa had opened the door to the south for the party by forming the BJP government. Now that Karnataka too has slipped out of the hands of the BJP.
The BJP had also placed a lot of emphasis on Telangana, but the Congress is in control there, and is not even managing to gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu.
2. BL Santosh’s association with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh makes his claim even stronger. He became an RSS pracharak in 1993 and came to the BJP from the Sangh.
3. The biggest thing in BL Santosh’s favor is that he also worked with Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, and being associated with Sangh confirms his claim.
