BJP may go for total overhaul of party after govt formation

After completing the government formation for the third consecutive term, the BJP may have to initiate a complete overhaul of its organisational structure.

The first step in this direction will be to find a new party president and team of national office-bearers, as incumbent BJP chief JP Nadda may join the new government. Nadda's tenure came to an end in January this year, but he was given an extension until the completion of the Lok Sabha elections. The role of a Union minister is not new for the BJP president, as he has already been part of the Union cabinet during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first term.

New faces in waiting

“The priority for the BJP right now is government formation, and only then will any changes be made in the party organisation. There is no hurry. The BJP is not a government organisation that anyone’s tenure cannot be extended,” RP Singh, national spokesperson of the BJP, told The Federal.

With Nadda likely to be part of the Union Council of Ministers, the BJP will initiate changes in its national team, state units, and district units to fine-tune its election machinery after the setback in the 2024 general elections.

The need for an organisational overhaul is also on the cards because the BJP leadership has to induct former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan into the Union cabinet. Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia may also be accommodated at the Centre.

New role for ex-ministers

With more than 15 Union ministers losing the Lok Sabha elections, it is likely that some of them could get a role in the party organisation.

Some of the prominent ministers who have lost the Lok Sabha elections are Smriti Irani, Ajay Mishra Teni, Arjun Munda, Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Kailash Choudhary, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Kaushal Kishore, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Sanjeev Balyan, Rao Saheb Danve, RK Singh, V Muraleedharan, L Murugan, Subhas Sarkar and Nishith Pramanik.

Top BJP leaders said that apart from accommodating some of the senior leaders in the organisation, the new national unit of the party will also reflect the growing presence of the BJP in states like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala where the party has managed to make a mark for itself.

Accommodating allies

Unlike the previous two terms, when the BJP had won the majority on its own and wasn’t dependent on allies, this time, the party, which fell short of the magic figure, will have to allocate a chunk of cabinet berths to its allies.

Senior BJP leaders anticipate that the Union Council of Ministers will witness the maximum representation of their allies this time compared to 2009 and 2014.

“We are with NDA and we have no demands. These discussions will happen at a later stage. Our leader Nitish Kumar has already spoken to the BJP leadership twice since the results of the Lok Sabha elections were announced,” senior JDU leader Ram Nath Thakur told The Federal.

Expanding footprint

Meanwhile, the BJP leaders are elated with the fact that the party has been voted to power in two more states.

“The outcome of these elections is significant. The BJP is now a pan-India party as we now have presence in almost every state. The BJP has assumed power in Odisha, while people have voted for the NDA government in Andhra Pradesh. We have maintained our dominance in Karnataka and have also performed well in Kerala and Telangana,” BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Lahar Singh Siroya told The Federal.

Siroya wondered as to why the Opposition parties are celebrating the Lok Sabha results. “The BJP is the single largest party with 240 MPs and the NDA is forming its government with Narendra Modi as its leader. The Congress only has 99 seats. I fail to understand why they are celebrating. The BJP has got more seats than all the Opposition parties,” he said.