BJP likely to elect new national president; women leaders from South in the spotlight

With J P Nadda set to continue in the Union Cabinet as the Health Minister with cabinet rank, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is preparing to elect a new national president. Sources suggest that the selection process for the next party chief is likely to be completed within July.

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Notably, three prominent women leaders from southern India, Nirmala Sitharaman, D. Purandeswari, and Vanathi Srinivasan are emerging as frontrunners for the position. All three belong to the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, indicating a potential strategic shift to empower southern leadership within the party's national structure. Sitharaman, who currently serves as the Union Finance Minister, hails from Tamil Nadu. Vanathi Srinivasan is an MLA from Coimbatore, while D. Purandeswari, daughter of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N T Rama Rao, is a former Union Minister and currently BJP’s Andhra Pradesh state president.

Sources suggest that the BJP’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is supportive of a woman leader taking over the national leadership role, and preferably from South India to boost the party’s regional balance and outreach.

Apart from the women contenders, other senior leaders being considered include Anurag Thakur, Dharmendra Pradhan, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Manohar Lal Khattar, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Prahlad Joshi, Nitin Gadkari, G. Kishan Reddy, and Vinod Tawde.