The appointment of Nitin Nabin as the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party is supposed to be indicative of the rhetoric of ‘generational change’ that the prime minister and the Union home minister are particularly enamoured of. In a BJP dominated by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, the party has seen leadership positions being bestowed upon unconventional claimants: the choices of chief ministers in Rajasthan, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, to cite some examples, are a case in point. The question that has lingered, however, is whether Mr Nabin and his mint-fresh peers would carry the necessary heft. Mr Modi seemed especially keen to dispel the notion of Mr Nabin being a lightweight: he described him as his “boss” and added that he would work under his guidance. The optics, of course, are unavoidable to convey the message that the BJP, unlike its rivals, not only rewards merit but is also future-ready. Yet, what cannot be denied is the fact that Mr Nabin’s elevation as party president further testifies to the deepening grip of Mr Modi and Mr Shah on the BJP’s organisational edifice. Incidentally, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was in favour of a party president who would be able to stand up to the duo’s stature — dominance — especially after the BJP’s underwhelming performance in the last general election. But a string of impressive electoral victories in subsequent assembly polls has ensured that Mr Modi prevails in this internal battle within the sangh parivar. Strikingly, for all his deference to the new president, it was Mr Modi who set the agenda — ideological and
organisational — for the ‘boss’.

The BJP’s electoral expansion under Mr Modi has been stupendous and has bled its rivals, especially the Congress, heavily. Yet, in one aspect, today’s BJP seems to be mirroring the Congress in its heyday: a centralised, personality-based party with nominal — titular — roles for its functionaries. The consequences of such an arrangement, the BJP should note, were inimical to the Congress. But there is also an undeniable dilemma that afflicts the BJP which cannot go unrecognised. Grooming a second rung of independent-minded leaders is healthy for any party. Doing so under the watch of Mr Modi, the BJP’s tallest leader but also authoritarian in temperament, remains a formidable task.