As meetings and discussions to identify a new party president and office-bearers are under way in the Bharatiya Janata Party, the search has now been extended to decide the candidates for the by-elections to the Vadodara and the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seats.
The two seats have fallen vacant as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given up Vadodara and retained Varanasi and Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh has given up Mainpuri and kept Azamgarh.
Party general secretary Amit Shah, Mr. Modi’s confidant, is a front-runner for the party president’s position and the Vadodara ticket.
Sources in the BJP told The Hindu that Mr. Shah, credited with a turnaround of the party’s fortunes in Uttar Pradesh, where it won a staggering majority of seats, was a clear favourite for the president’s post. “Many leaders and workers are of the view that Mr. Shah will help the party perform well in the coming State Assembly elections and will also be able to administer the party with efficiency,” a source said.
The other names doing the rounds for the party president’s post are Om Mathur and J.P. Nadda.
