BJP chief JP Nadda has returned as the Health Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s brand new cabinet and has also taken on the role of Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers. His term as the party’s national president ends later this month, sparking interest in who will succeed him—a position previously held by heavyweights like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Nitin Gadkari, and Amit Shah.

Party sources suggest that a working president will be chosen after PM Modi returns from his Italy tour later this month. This selection is made by the party’s parliamentary board, which might also ask Nadda to remain in his role while appointing a working president, despite the party’s “one person one post” principle.

The working president will serve until the membership campaign and organisational election process conclude by the end of the year. According to the BJP constitution, the national president is elected only after organisational elections are complete in 50 percent of the states. The membership campaign, starting in July, will run for about six months, with the new president elected in December-January. The new president’s term will begin in January 2025.

JP Nadda was appointed working president in 2019 and formally elected in January 2020. In 2019, after Amit Shah, the then party president, became Home Minister in PM Modi’s second term, he delegated the party’s responsibilities. The Parliamentary Board appointed Nadda as working president on June 17, 2019, and he became full-time party president on January 20, 2020. His term ended in January this year, but due to the upcoming general elections, he was extended until the end of June.

According to a News18 report, BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde, a former Maharashtra minister, is among the frontrunners for the party president post. Tawde is a highly influential figure in the BJP, second only to BL Santosh.

Another prominent name is K Laxman, the chief of BJP’s OBC Morcha. From Telangana, a key target for the BJP after Andhra Pradesh, Laxman has also served as the party’s state president.

The report also suggests that the BJP is also considering appointing its first woman president.