BJP to announce new national president on Jan 20: Nitin Nabin likely to head

The BJP on Friday (January 16) announced the schedule for the election of its national president, stating that nominations for the post will be filed on January 19 and the name of the new party chief will be declared the following day.

Nomination process detailed by party

According to the organisational poll schedule released by BJP national returning officer K Laxman, nominations for the election of the party chief can be filed between 2 pm and 4 pm on January 19, while candidates can withdraw their nominations between 5 pm and 6 pm on the same day.

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The scrutiny of the documents of the candidates' nomination papers will be carried out between 4 pm and 5 pm on January 19, according to the notification issued by Laxman, who is also a BJP Rajya Sabha MP.

Polling only if required

The polling will be held "if needed" on January 20 and an official announcement of the name of the new elected BJP national president will be made on the same day, Laxman said.

The entire poll process will be held at the party headquarters.

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According to party sources, BJP national working president Nitin Nabin is likely to be elected unopposed as the party chief, as it is unlikely that any other party leader will join the contest.

Nabin is likely to replace JP Nadda as BJP's president, with the party's top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah backing Nabin's candidature.