Analysis | What Lies Ahead For Nitin Nabin And BJP

By Dev Raj

Patna: Soon after Nitin Nabin, 45, was announced as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 75, declared, "I am a party worker, and he (Nitin) is my boss", it underlined the shift in the party.

Modi pointed out that Nitin hailed from the generation that has seen socio-economic-technological changes in India, and has used radio to AI (Artificial Intelligence) for information – a trait that would prove of much importance for the party and its workers.

The change is not only administrative, but also generational, highlighting that the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have understood the need for grooming and relying on the younger leaders for the future – especially at a time when the majority of the central leaders are in their sixties and seventies.

"India is a young country with a young population. Nitin's appointment is very important to cater to the youth. It is a conscious decision to provide young leadership that can march ahead smoothly in this digital age. Previous national presidents Nitin Gadkari and Amit Shah were also appointed at a young age, but he (Nitin Nabin) is the youngest one till now," former BJP national vice-president Kiran Ghai told ETV Bharat.

Incidentally, India has the largest youth population in the world. Around 65 per cent of the 145 crore (1.45 billion) people in the country are below the age of 35, making it imperative to bring forth youth-oriented policies.

The turn of events brought Nitin to politics. His father and former BJP MLA Nabin Kishore Prasad Sinha passed away in 2005. He quit the undergraduate engineering degree course, contested and won the by-election held for the vacant seat in 2006.

He has retained it since then, winning it five times in a row, and went on to become a minister in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s cabinet for the first time in 2021.

Nitin made a mark in the BJP through his cold efficiency, attention to detail, politeness, strong organisational capabilities, keeping good relations with party workers, dedication to work, and decisiveness. He is also seen as religiously inclined, and has been organising the Ram Navami celebrations in Patna for the past 14 years.

"He gained experience of politics, legislature, power, and organisational work. He got the party's charge for Sikkim and Chhattisgarh. He was also a member of the national executive of the BJP Yuva Morcha, and later the president of the BJP Yuva Morcha's Bihar unit. His wisdom and grasp on BJP ideology is unprecedented. Our party’s central leadership must have considered these traits before proposing his name for the top position. There is a saying in Hindi – shahar sikhaye kotwal – responsibilities teach the person. More possibilities will manifest in him," Ghai said.

On the national level, Nitin is a part of the long-term planning of the BJP and RSS to counter the challenge posed by other national and regional parties like the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar, Trinamool Congress and others that have a young line-up of leaders ready.

His appointment is also a part of the BJP's plan for the forthcoming West Bengal elections, which the party is treating as a crucial one. The state, along with Tamil Nadu and Kerala, is the last frontier in the country where it is yet to come to power.

"Nitin hails from the Kayastha caste. The famous chief ministers of Bengal, be it Bidhan Chandra Roy or Jyoti Basu, were also from the same caste, which is a culturally, educationally, and socially dominant one there. The BJP is tactfully handling it through his appointment. It is a message for Bengal. Moreover, he is a self-made person, non-controversial, a newcomer on the central stage, without any frills, and free of any political blemish," said RSS ideologue and a former journalist Priyaranjan Bharti.

Bharti added that the RSS, which was continuously pointing out that former party president J.P. Nadda’s three-year tenure was long over, had been insisting that it wanted the new president to be from the 'cadre', or a volunteer from the grassroots.

He claimed that RSS did not object to the new appointment. "Nitin’s father was among the senior leaders of the BJP, worked hard to establish it in Bihar, and had close relations with the RSS," Bharti said.

Since the Bengal Assembly poll is just around three months away, it will be interesting to watch how much the new BJP national president is used in the campaign, and whether he succeeds in wooing the Kayastha community there.

The new appointment is also a move at instilling confidence among the party workers that their dedication and hard work will not go unnoticed and unanswered. It will also attract the youth to the party as they connect better with young people.

Nitin is going to face several challenges as well. He will have to ensure that the present streak of victory in state polls continues in the coming years. He will have to pay attention to Tamil Nadu, where the party has not fared well in the past polls, and is struggling to gain a foothold. The state is going to polls later this year. Assembly elections will be held in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry also this year.

“As the new party president, he will have to work for better coordination among the leaders of the largest party in the world with 14 crore members, and resolve friction in the state units like that of Karnataka," a senior Bihar BJP leader said.

Nitin will also have to improve coordination with the 24-odd allies of the BJP. The allies are important – after all, they saved the day for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. As of now, his appointment has infused fresh enthusiasm in the rank and file of the party – something that could have a positive impact in the forthcoming polls.

Read More

1. Nation First, Party Next, Self Last: Nitin Nabin In His First Address As BJP Chief
2. Temple, Gurdwara Visits To Meeting Party Leaders And Workers: New BJP President Nitin Nabin's First Day In Office