BJP set for organisational polls from next month

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari has confirmed that organisational polls in the Delhi unit will be completed by 30 November.

 

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party is all set for an organisational rejig across the country with elections from booth level to the national level starting 11 September. Well-placed sources said that the elections of BJP state unit presidents will be held by mid-December, while the national BJP president will be elected by 30 December.

However, sources said the election for the state unit president in Delhi will be held by November-end as the national capital is likely to go to Assembly polls by January next year. They said in such a situation, the new team will require some time to chalk out strategy for the elections. However, in case of early elections, likely to be held simultaneously with Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, the current team led by Manoj Tiwari will lead the BJP in the Assembly polls.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari confirmed that organisational elections in the Delhi unit will be completed by 30 November. The BJP high-command has appointed senior leader and former MLA Pawan Sharma convenor for the organisational elections, while Bhola Nath Vij will be the co-convenor for the polls.

Tiwari told The Sunday Guardian that the process of organisational elections will begin soon after the ongoing membership drive was over. “The whole election process will be over by 30 November, with election of the state unit president. BJP is a democratic party and unlike the other family-run political parties, the BJP workers will elect their own leaders at various levels,” Tiwari said.

In Delhi, the three-year tenure of Tiwari will come to end in November, but as per the BJP constitution, he can be appointed or elected for one more term. Tiwari was appointed Delhi BJP president on 30 November 2016.

Pawan Sharma, the Delhi BJP election convenor, has vast organisational experience and has been the general secretary (organisation) from 1989 to 2004. He was elected as member of Delhi Legislative Assembly from Uttam Nagar seat in 2013. Sharma said that organisational election would start after completion of the membership drive so that every newly inducted member of the BJP can participate in the poll process.

BJP national election officer Radha Mohan Singh said that the poll process will begin with election of the booth level units followed by the block level presidents. This will be completed by 30 September. Following this, the district level presidents will be elected and the process will be completed by 30 November. After the district level presidents, election process will begin for the state unit presidents, he said. At last, elections will be held for the BJP national president. At present, J.P. Nadda has been appointed the working president of BJP.

For election of state unit president, voting rights lie with district presidents and council members (one from each Assembly constituency).

Sources in the party claimed that in most likelihood, the top leadership will try to avoid election for the state president by building a consensus among all the groups and aspirants. “There is a practice to avoid election for the state president. But if in case election in-charge and the central leadership failed to build consensus over one candidate for state president, election will be held,” a party leader said.