BJP president J.P. Nadda, who has been inducted as health minister in the new cabinet, will continue as the party chief at least till early January 2025, seen as another effort by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to assert their grip unfazed by the reduced poll mandate.

The BJP’s national executive had in January 2023 extended Nadda’s term till June 2024 but he continues as the party boss without any official announcement of another extension.

Privately, party leaders said the extension given to Nadda last year also had a “fine print” that he would continue to hold the post till a new president gets elected. This forecloses the need to call a meeting of the party’s highest decision-making body, the parliamentary board, to formally provide another extension to Nadda, the leaders said.

“Given the upcoming Assembly polls in key states, the organisational election process will take time and so the election of a new president can be taken up only in January,” a party leader said. Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir are due for elections later this year.

While announcing Nadda’s term extension in January last year, home minister Shah had stated that it was till June 2024. Shah had cited the pandemic coming in the way of the party undertaking a membership drive, followed by organisational elections to state units, a prerequisite according to the BJP constitution before the election of a new chief.

“In the past too, the term of the party president has been extended and so following the same convention, Rajnath Singh moved a resolution and the national executive unanimously approved that the term of J.P. Nadda be extended till June 2024,” Shah had announced last year at the party’s meet in Delhi.

A section of the BJP feels the way Nadda was being allowed to continue as party chief was yet another case of the Modi-Shah exhibiting that their writ continues to run despite the setback in the Lok Sabha elections.

“Everyone knows that Naddaji is a rubber stamp party president,” a BJP leader said, alleging that the “spirit of the party constitution was being violated”.

Nadda currently occupies three key posts: health and family welfare minister at the Centre, party president and the leader of the Rajya Sabha. The BJP has been known for following the “one person, one post” criterion and a section of party leaders feel that the “pre-eminence” given to Nadda was to send out a message.

“In the middle of the polls, Naddaji had made a statement that the BJP was no longer dependent on the RSS. This had deeply hurt the RSS leadership and now by giving him importance, Modi and Shah seem to be sending out a message,” a BJP leader said.