New Delhi: After the induction of Amit Shah in the Union Cabinet of Modi government 2.0, speculations are being made on the possible candidate who would take charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as its national president. If media reports are believed to be true, veteran BJP leader JP Nadda is likely to take the top post. With Shah joining the Cabinet of PM Modi, he may demit the office of BJP chief as part of the party's ‘one-person one-post’ principle.

Nadda, a Brahmin leader from Himachal Pradesh, enjoys the confidence of the party's top brass and is trusted by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) - the party's ideological parent. He also enjoys a clean reputation and was the health minister in the first Modi government.

Nadda is also a three-time Himachal MLA and is known for his proximity to Shah. He was brought in as secretary of the BJP central parliamentary board in 2009 by the then party president Nitin Gadkari. Even in the recent Lok Sabha Polls, Nadda supervised BJP’s election strategy in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, where the party bagged as many as 62 of the 80 parliamentary constituencies.

If Nadda gets appointed as the next BJP chief he will need to strategise and continue party’s victory run in the upcoming Assembly elections scheduled in states of Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand this year and in Delhi in 2020.

Shah had taken over the post of BJP president in July 2014 after the then chief Rajnath Singh was appointed as Union Home Minister in previous Modi government. Thereafter, Shah took over the reins of the BJP unopposed for a full term in 2016. Shah’s three-year term as BJP President ended in January 2019, however, the party extended it till the ended of the year so that he could craft party’s victory in the run-up to the Lok Sabha Elections.

A few other party leaders like general secretary Bhupendra Yadav and vice president O P Mathur are also seen as contenders for the top party post. The party will also look for new presidents for its Uttar Pradesh and Bihar units as their current heads, Mahendra Nath Pandey and Nityanand Rai respectively, have been inducted in the Union Council of Ministers.