Nobody in the Sangh is likely to tell you as much, but most are aware of the unspoken truth behind the inordinate delay in naming a successor to BJP president J.P. Nadda — the ruling party is locked in an unresolved tussle with its parent, the RSS, over who should get the job.
Sources suggested the differences between ideological parent and progeny went further than a single post — the Sangh apparently wanted an overhaul of the BJP organisation to loosen Narendra Modi and Amit Shah’s iron grip over the party.
Senior BJP leaders had a few weeks ago sounded confident in private about the party appointing a new president before the July 21 start of the monsoon session of Parliament. The chances of that happening now look grim, sources said on Wednesday.
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and environment minister Bhupender Yadav had emerged as favourites for the job, and the party leadership had early this month forwarded their names to the RSS leadership for endorsement, according to
BJP insiders.
“The RSS has so far not approved either candidate,” a source said. “More meetings and discussions between the RSS and the BJP are expected.”
The Sangh is believed to be insisting on having a “strong organisational leader”, rather than a “rubber stamp” for Prime Minister Modi and Union home minister Shah, as BJP president. But three rounds of negotiations have failed to break the ice, sources said.
Amid the battle of attrition have come indications that the RSS might want Modi himself to start thinking of stepping aside and allowing a generational shift.
Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat last week suggested that leaders should step down gracefully after reaching a certain age and make way for a new generation, fuelling speculation whether he was pressuring Modi to retire.
The BJP has an unofficial retirement age of 75 — an age Modi would attain on September 17 this year — although party leaders have dismissed any such age restriction or its applicability to the Prime Minister.
Sangh insiders said the RSS wanted to prepare the BJP for a future beyond 2029, a time when Brand Modi might not be around to lead the party.
“The task of preparing the BJP for the post-2029 period would rest with the new party president, and therefore the delay in finalising the name. Changes to the central government and some BJP-ruled state governments are also being planned. All this takes time,” an RSS leader said.
One hurdle is that the Sangh is not happy with either Shah or Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who are seen to be competing to position themselves as Modi’s heir apparent.
Shah, the number two in the current dispensation, is widely seen as the de facto BJP president, too. He has been playing a dominant role in not just organisational matters but also the appointments of chief ministers and other ministers in BJP-ruled states.
An RSS veteran said the Sangh leadership wanted the next BJP president to free the party organisation from the “unbridled control” of Modi-Shah and promote younger leaders to prepare for a post-Modi future.
The Sangh also seems to find Adityanath, the poster boy of aggressive Hindutva, unpalatable as Modi’s successor. Adityanath does not come from the RSS stable and is known to be as domineering as Modi and Shah.
Just as the Sangh-BJP power play has held up the appointment of the party president, the choice of a new Uttar Pradesh BJP chief is stuck in a personality clash between Shah and Adityanath.
“Shah is pushing for known opponents of the chief minister as state president,” a BJP leader said.
The failure to appoint a unit chief in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh has itself been a big reason for the deadlock over the BJP national president.
Factionalism has turned so intense in the heartland state that the BJP has been unable to appoint even all the district unit presidents, sources said.
It was the setback in Uttar Pradesh in last year’s general election — when the BJP won just 33 of the state’s 80 seats — that primarily denied the BJP a majority in the Lok Sabha.
“It will not reflect well on the party if it appoints a national BJP president without finalising the Uttar Pradesh unit chief. The RSS may have to step in and resolve this crisis, too, given the political significance of the state,” a BJP leader said.