BJP has given Nadda a huge responsibility, will he be able to live up to the expectations?

National President JP Nadda is moving forward in his new term with a view to strengthen the political base of the Bharatiya Janata Party, strengthen its organizational base, increase its mass base and create new records of victory in various states and Lok Sabha elections. Putting an end to further speculations, the BJP has extended his tenure till the Lok Sabha elections to be held in the year 2024. As a big challenge, there are Lok Sabha elections in the year 2024 and assembly elections in nine states in the year 2023. Nadda has not only expressed his determination to hoist the party’s flag amid the country’s dismal economic scenario, inflation and unemployment, but also to win a landslide victory in nine assembly elections. Nadda, who came into limelight with the JP movement, has successfully led the world’s largest political party, continuing the golden era under the leadership of Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, and is now moving towards a new rise.

Nadda, who rose above a grassroots worker to make a place in politics like a shining star, is a leader of stature who has mastered political skills. Amidst many successes and records, some defeats have also fallen in his lap. With the euphoria of the BJP’s resounding victory in Gujarat, there is the reward of an extension in the term of the Speaker, but there is also the pain of losing the government in the home state of Himachal Pradesh. The Aam Aadmi Party government of Delhi reaching Punjab and not getting the expected victory in the civic body elections of Delhi is also in the form of a crisis for the BJP. Despite this, Nadda has added jewels to the crown of the BJP. Nadda, who took the BJP to new heights, got the blessings of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, unwavering faith and full support of Amit Shah. A lot of real challenges and struggle are now in front of Nadda as the national president. This is also the time of real test for them, when they have to show their capability, political skill and capability in the year 2023, assembly elections in 9 states and general elections in the year 2024.

As an outstanding organizational leader, JP Nadda’s previous presidential term has not only been satisfactory, but has also been successful, encouraging and charismatic. He has achieved more than 70 percent success in assembly elections during his tenure. The extension of his tenure till the year 2024 only shows his high level potential. Nadda has several challenges including taking along his alliance partners. Leaving the NDA, many parties have taken their own path. If seen, Nadda’s electoral successes in the states have continued unabated. In 2019, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in Haryana and formed a government in alliance with the Jannayak Janta Party. The party won 74 seats in Bihar. After the Corona epidemic, there was electoral success in Assam, UP, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Gujarat. Political analysts believe that Nadda will now have to prepare a big plan to return to power in Karnataka. Similarly, a special action plan will have to be prepared for Telangana. Elections are also going to be held in the major states of North India this year, which pose a big challenge.

Born in Patna in 1960, Nadda passed his BA and LLB examinations from Patna and was associated with the ABVP from the very beginning. In his political career, Nadda was in-charge and election in-charge of many states including Jammu-Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Kerala, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh. He has also played his most successful innings as a minister in the Central Government. By successfully discharging these two big challenges of keeping pace with the Sangh and winning the elections, he has provided immeasurable heights to the BJP. Even though he has failed to weaken the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, he has taken steps towards nullifying its sharp edged challenges. Nadda has now been given bigger responsibilities and given his track record, it is also expected that he will live up to the expectations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, who aim to retain the BJP’s No. 1 position.

The main challenge is to coordinate with the allies. Nadda has several challenges including taking along his alliance partners. Between 2014 and 2019, 15 NDA allies defected from the party, but due to various reasons, they could not affect the Lok Sabha election results, but now the BJP is facing a different scenario. Its big allies like JDU in Bihar, Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, Peoples Democratic Party led by Mehbooba Mufti, Telugu Desam Party led by Chandrababu Naidu are away from him. In the 10 assembly elections to be held this year, Nadda may have expressed his resolve to win all but it is not that easy. At present, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura and Karnataka have BJP governments, while Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram have BJP governments with NDA allies. Congress has only Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Telangana is governed by the Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (formerly Telangana Rashtra Samithi). Elections have not yet been held in Jammu and Kashmir since becoming a Union Territory.

This year is going to be very important for Nadda from a political point of view. Elections will be held in three northeastern states – Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland – between February and March. At the same time, the process of assembly elections in the South Indian state of Karnataka will be completed in April-May. The states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana will also face assembly elections later in the year. Elections can also be held in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir this year. Elections in all these states are challenging for Nadda. Hoisting the BJP’s flag in these states is being seen as a big responsibility for Nadda. The path of BJP is not smooth. Here Nadda has to break the anti-incumbency. For the BJP to win the elections in these states is a tough task, but Modi’s magic is still intact and Nadda is also expert in showing skills, so even this tough task will be defeated. Success in these states will act as a tonic to win the Lok Sabha elections.

JP Nadda has taken office at a time of complex challenges, as efforts are being made to unite the opposition, foreign forces are trying to tarnish Modi’s image, Congress’s Bharat Joda Yatra is also becoming effective, hence elections in 9 states and Winning the Lok Sabha elections can be a difficult target for him. But only under the previous leadership of Nadda, the BJP had the highest strike rate in Bihar. The NDA won a majority in Maharashtra, won Uttar Pradesh and increased BJP numbers in West Bengal. He also registered a massive victory in Gujarat. It is sure that under Modiji’s leadership and with Naddaji, BJP will win more seats in 2024 elections than 2019 and won’t be surprised if strange and miraculous results come in nine states as well. Now it has to be seen how JP Nadda can overcome these challenges for the next year and a half and sail the BJP.

-Lalit Garg

(The author is a senior journalist and columnist)