Amit Shah was elected unopposed president of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday for a second term, this time for a full tenure of three years. Mr. Shah had earlier completed Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s interrupted tenure as president from July 2014.
While party veterans L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were absent from the election process and the ensuing festivities, it was more than made up for by the presence of other leaders, including the Chief Ministers of most BJP-ruled States, senior Ministers and party office-bearers. Late at night, Mr. Shah called on Mr. Advani to seek his blessings.
The party headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road was decked up in saffron flags, and musicians and dancers performed since morning. Seventeen sets of nomination papers were filed with the party’s returning officer, Avinash Rai Khanna, including on behalf of the Parliamentary Board (the party’s highest decision-making body), the Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled States and State unit chiefs. As soon as the announcement was made, crackers went off at the conclusion of what was seen as a tough stand-off between the BJP and its ideological mentor, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, over Mr. Shah’s re-election.
Mr. Shah is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and it is believed that despite the defeats in the Delhi and the Bihar Assembly elections, Mr. Modi continues to favour him. “Congratulations to @AmitShah for his election as party president,” Mr. Modi tweeted. “Amit Bhai combines grassroots-level work & rich organisational experience which will benefit the party immensely.”
“Please look at the way the party has expanded in areas where we barely had a presence before. We have also, under his leadership, become the largest political party in the country,” Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. The Parliamentary Board will meet on January 28 to felicitate Mr. Shah.
Speculation is rife that Mr. Shah will announce a new team of office-bearers before Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry go to the polls.
