Gadkari set for second term as BJP chief

Nitin Gadkari is likely to be appointed as BJP President for the second consecutive term. The notification to this effect is expected any time soon, as the party has completed appointing Presidents for the majority of its state units as mandated by its constitution.

The RSS has managed to impress senior and influential BJP leaders, including LK Advani and Narendra Modi, to allow Gadkari the second successive three-year tenure.

For the RSS the choice was between giving Gadkari another term or recalling former president Rajnath Singh as a compromise candidate if resistance for the sitting President were to be stronger within the party.

BJP sources said that more than 18 party units have completed their internal elections to appoint their chiefs, the latest being Bihar. As per the BJP constitution, presidential election can happen only after 50 percent of the states have elected their heads since they participate in selecting the national leader.

The state presidents too have three year tenure. Interestingly, in the haste to give another tenure to Gadkari, appointment of state unit heads of some contentious big states, including Karnataka, Maharastra and Delhi, have been put on hold as Gadkari likes to decide on them after his re-appointment, which looked unlikely
barely a month ago due to corruption allegations concerning his cooperative Purti Group.

While the party internal elections in over 18 states like Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been completed without fuss, the main opposition is fretting over differences between regional satraps in Rajasthan, Delhi, and Maharastra.