New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: Jagat Prakash Nadda on Monday was elected as the National President of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Nadda, who filed his nomination for chief post on Monday morning, was elected to the post unopposed.
Senior BJP leader Radha Mohan Singh, who is the incharge of the organisational election process, made the announcement at the party headquarters in New Delhi.
Outgoing president Amit Shah and other senior leaders congratulated Nadda, who had been serving as the party's working president. He will serve for three years at the helm.
Nadda's formal elevation will be held later in the day at party's headquarters in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are expected to be present there.
Nadda, who has decades-long experience in the BJP, has long been seen as the choice of PM Modi and Amit Shah for the top party role.
On Sunday evening, Amit Shah also held a marathon of meeting with party’s top brass -- including Union Ministers, Chief Ministers and some members of National Executive and Parliamentary Board -- to formally apprise them of Nadda’s candidature.
Nadda's election has brought an end to Shah's tenure of over five-and-a-half years during which the BJP expanded its footprints across the country like never before and enjoyed its best phase in electoral contests despite suffering a few setbacks in state polls.
After Shah joined the Modi government 2.0, the BJP had began the exercise for electing his successor as the party has the convention of 'one person, one post' and soon it appointed Nadda as party’s working president.
Nadda was also incharge of BJP's election campaign in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh. The BJP won 62 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Nadda has also served as a cabinet minister from 1998 to 2003 -- in charge of health and then forest, environment and science minister in the government of Himachal Pradesh from 2008-2010.
He also has a strong RSS roots and it is known that Nadda has strong working relationship with PM Modi and Amit Shah.
Posted By: James Kuanal