BJP national executive meeting on Jan 16-17; Nadda's extension as party prez likely

NEW DELHI:  A two-day-long national executive meeting of the BJP is likely to take place from January 16 in the national capital. The meeting is expected to endorse an extension of party president J.P. Nadda's term, which is ending this month. The meeting will also see the party leadership taking stock of  election preparedness of its state units where Assembly elections are scheduled this year and also assess the party’s organisational preparedness for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. With the general election scheduled next year, Mr Nadda is likely to get an extension to lead the party to the electoral battle. Mr Nadda's predecessor and home minister Amit Shah had also got an extension to spearhead the party's preparation for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The meeting will also see the BJP leadership deliberating on countrywide programmes planned by the government to mark India’s presidency of G-20. This is likely to be one of the highlights of the meeting, with the BJP set to laud Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts in this regard and prepare a roadmap to involve its cadres in the exercise.

The postponement of the organisational polls in view of the Assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls may also come up for discussion at the meeting. According to sources, the process of internal polls in the party may begin after the Lok Sabha polls are over in April-May 2024.

It was only after the parliamentary elections that the BJP's organizational polls began and Mr Nadda was elected unopposed, with Mr Shah joining the Union Cabinet during Narendra Modi’s second term as PM.