Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Jagat Prakash Nadda's tenure has been extended by four months till June 2024, a decision approved by the party's national council on Sunday, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Shah informed about the decision during his address at the saffron party's ongoing national convention in Delhi. Nadda will also have the authority to make crucial decisions subject to approval by the BJP parliamentary board.
JP Nadda had taken charge as the party's working president in 2019 upon Amit Shah's induction as the Union Home Minister. He took up the position on a full-time basis in 2020.
Amit Shah pointed out Nadda's leadership behind the BJP's performance in Bihar and the NDA's massive victories in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, as he announced the extension of the latter's tenure.
"Under Nadda's leadership, we had the highest strike rate in Bihar. The NDA won a majority in Maharashtra, won in Uttar Pradesh and our numbers increased in West Bengal. We also registered a landslide victory in Gujarat," said Amit Shah.
On Saturday, JP Nadda reaffirmed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha general elections. He said that he held a "firm belief in the strengths and capabilities" of the party workers calling for members to ensure more than 370 seats in the coming polls.
The BJP president said, "I have a firm belief in the strengths and capabilities of our karyakartas. We have to make our booths stronger and stronger. We must put all our energies into ensuring that we cross 370 seats and the NDA crosses 400."
The extension of JP Nadda's tenure as the BJP national president comes just days after he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha on February 15, apart from Ashok Chavan, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Sudhanshu Trivedi, and L Murugan.
Nadda was nominated from Gujarat as the BJP decided on dropping Union Ministers Pashottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya, who won the 2018 election from the state. They are expected to be fielded in the Lok Sabha polls by the party.
The party has nominated Jashvantsinh Parmar, Mayank Nayak, and diamond magnate Govind Dholakia from Gujarat. Several senior BJP leaders and current Rajya Sabha MPs, including Union Ministers like Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhupender Yadav, have not been reappointed for the Rajya Sabha elections as many of them might contest the Lok Sabha elections.
