S Gopal Puri
DHARAMSHALA:
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s decision to appoint Nitin Nabin as its national working president has sparked speculation about a change at the top. But has Himachal Pradesh leader Jagat Prakash Nadda actually been replaced as BJP national president? The answer is Nadda has not been replaced yet.
The appointment of 45-year-old Bihar minister Nitin Nabin as the BJP’s working president has led to confusion, with some news reports even suggesting that Nadda has been “removed” from the post. Party leaders, however, insist that this interpretation is incorrect. Nadda continues to be the BJP’s national president, while Nabin’s elevation is part of an interim and familiar organisational transition.
Senior journalist Sanjeev Sharma summed it up succinctly: “Calling this Nadda’s exit is misleading. This is a managed transition the BJP has followed before. The working president is a preparatory role, not a replacement.”
Not removal, but extension and transition
Contrary to some reports claiming “Nadda ki adhyaksh pad se chhutti (removed from post)”, BJP leaders clarify that Nadda has not been removed. His original tenure as party president formally ended in 2024. Since then, he has been continuing through a service extension, a mechanism the party has used to ensure continuity ahead of organisational elections.
Nitin Nabin has been appointed to work alongside Nadda as the national working president. Once Nadda is formally relieved, Nabin is expected to take over as the next BJP chief. Party insiders stress that this mirrors an earlier transition model rather than signalling abrupt leadership change.
The BJP constitution, notably, does not explicitly provide for the post of a “working president”. Yet, since 2019, the role has emerged as a de facto stepping stone to the top job.
Familiar precedent since 2019
The current arrangement closely resembles events from six years ago. In June 2019, JP Nadda himself was appointed BJP working president after Amit Shah became Union Home Minister. Nadda worked in that role for nearly six months before being unanimously elected as the full-time national president in January 2020.
At that time too, Shah had not been “removed”. He had already completed two full terms as BJP president and the party constitution does not allow a third consecutive term. Hence, a new president was chosen. Nadda, however, unlike Shah, was later granted a service extension rather than being re-elected for a second term.
According to BJP leaders, the working president arrangement is purely interim, aimed at grooming the successor and ensuring organisational stability.
There is also a religious and logistical dimension to the timing. Khar Maas, a month-long period considered inauspicious in the Hindu calendar, begins on Monday. This explains why Nabin’s appointment was made on Sunday (December 14, 2025). After the period ends on January 14 with Makar Sankranti, the formal process to elect the new BJP president is expected to begin.
The party has already completed organisational elections in 30 of its 37 states and Union Territories, crossing the halfway mark required to initiate the national presidential election. BJP leaders say the process could take about four days and may conclude shortly after mid-January.
While a formal election will be held, Nabin’s elevation is widely seen as a foregone conclusion, given the BJP and RSS tradition of consensus-based leadership selection.
Who is Nitin Nabin?
Nitin Nabin is the Road Construction Minister of Bihar and a five-time MLA from Bankipur in Patna. He entered the Bihar Assembly at just 26 after the death of his father, BJP veteran Navin Kishore Sinha. If he assumes charge as BJP president, Nabin will become the party’s first chief from Bihar and eastern India, and its youngest-ever president, surpassing Nitin Gadkari, who took over at 52.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Nabin as a “hardworking karyakarta with rich organisational experience”, expressing confidence that his energy and humility would strengthen the party. Nabin has also served as BJP in-charge for Chhattisgarh and Sikkim, adding to his organisational credentials.
