india

Updated: Sep 18, 2019 09:08 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party is planning greater organizational role to its relatively younger leaders in districts and state bodies through internal elections that will kick off next month, two BJP leaders said.

The idea is to give reins of the state units to leaders who are 55 or less, and put even younger leaders in charge of the district and units below that.

The BJP on Saturday appointed Sanjay Jaiswal (53) and Satish Poonia (55) as its president in Bihar and Rajasthan. Swatantra Dev Singh who took over as UP BJP chief in July is also 55. Karnataka too got Nalin Kumar Kateel (52) as the new president in August.

“We feel this is the time for a generational change in the party,” said a BJP general secretary on condition of anonymity. “The leadership issue is settled in the party, and younger leaders who get an opportunity today can be groomed for bigger roles in next 15 years.”

This strategy will also have its reflection in the team of national office bearers when it is constituted after the election of Jagat Prakash Nadda as the party president by year end.

“The RSS is also going through a similar change and leaders in the age group of 50-55 are getting promotion over those who are older to them. There is a general admission within the Sangh parivar and its affiliates that a new and young leadership needs to be promoted for next 15-20 years,” the second BJP leader quoted in the story said.

There can be certain exception, but the general idea is to have leaders in the age bracket of 50-55 years in leadership roles, this leader said.

In July, the RSS and the BJP chose 53-year-old BL Santosh over senior pracharaks such as Saudan Singh and V Satish for the post of the organisational secretary. This post if reserved for RSS leaders loaned to the BJP, and is responsible for the organsiational matters of the party.

The BJP is currently holding a verification of its membership base, and the organisational elections will start from next month. The BJP team at booth, mandal and state levels will chosen between October and November, before the election of the national president in December last or early January.

There will be change of leadership in some other states and younger faces will replace existing president, the first leader said. “The idea behind younger presidents is also to influence a new energy into the party, particularly in states where the BJP sees an opportunity to grow,” this leader said.