The role of the BJP national president is pivotal in shaping the party’s strategies, electoral campaigns, and position in national politics. Check list of BJP party chief’s here.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has embarked on the journey to select its party president as organisational elections have begun. For the past year J P Nadda, the incumbent president of BJP, has been on an extended tenure as the party sought to maintain a stable leadership in the backdrop of the Lok Sabha election 2024.
The BJP party president will be elected unanimously and with the approval of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) following the polls for its state units. Any candidate for the presidency needs to have been a member of the party for at least 15 years.
The role of the BJP president is pivotal in shaping the party’s strategies, electoral campaigns, and position in national politics.
What is the process of electing the BJP party president?
The party president is nominally elected by an electoral college composed of members drawn from the party’s National and State councils, but in practice is a consensus choice of senior members of the party.
The term of the party president is three years long and one person may not serve more than two consecutive terms. As per the BJP Constitution, the election for the national president of the party can not be conducted before the elections in half of the states.
BJP party presidents who have served more than a three-year term
The BJP has had 11 presidents, with Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah each serving two terms. The current president, J.P Nadda, assumed the position in January 2020, his term came to a culmination in 2023 but was given an extension. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first president of the BJP from 1980 to 1986. Lal Krishna Advani held the position for several terms.
Full list of BJP national presidents till now
Atal Bihari Vajpayee: 1980-1986
Lal Krishna Advani: 1986-1990, 1993-1998, 2004-2005
Murli Manohar Joshi: 1991-1993
Kushabhau Thakre: 1998-2000
Bangaru Laxman: 2000-2001
K Jana Krishnamurthi: 2001-2002
M Venkaiah Naidu: 2002-2004
Rajnath Singh: 2005-2009, 2013-2014
Nitin Gadkari: 2010-2013
Amit Shah: 2014-2017, 2017-2020
JP Nadda: 2020-Present
