BJP may opt for 'working president' model, rumours suggests before party's national meet, membership drive

New Delhi: To kickstart the extensive process of its internal elections, the BJP is set to begin its membership drive in the coming days, with a key meeting of the party’s national office bearers to take place from Friday. PM Modi might attend the meeting. To chalk out details, party president J P Nadda on Friday evening held a meeting of the party’s general secretaries at his residence.

Sources in the BJP said that while the membership drive is of paramount importance, there is also sustained buzz that the party might opt to have a working president soon. DH has earlier reported that Nadda, who is now the union health minister, might be assisted by a working president; he had himself served as one when union home minister Amit Shah’s tenure as president was coming to an end.

Senior leaders in the party had said that the membership drive, which will continue till the end of October, will be followed by elections for the mandal presidents, then district presidents, state councils and and then state presidents. These internal polls will go on till November.

The membership campaign, known as the sadasyata abhiyaan entails its workers fanning out asking for prospective members to join the party. Any person willing to join must pay a membership fee of Rs 200. The membership campaign will be followed by internal polls in the local, mandal, district, regional and state levels, after which a meeting of the national office-bearers will be held again. This will be followed by a meeting of the national executive.

Senior party sources said that this is when the president will be elected. As per the party constitution, councils of atleast 50% states will have to be elected first for the president’s election to commence.

The meeting at Nadda’s house was followed by a meeting of several NDA leaders in his residence earlier in the day. Nadda, who was first given an extension in his tenure till June this year to see the party through the Lok Sabha polls, was given yet another extension to help the party elect another president.

The party’s Constitution states that an electoral college consisting of members of the National Council as well as members of the State Council elects the president. Groups of 20 members of a state council can propose the name of any leader who has been a member of the party for 15 years and has agreed for the role. Any leader can hold the President’s post for two consecutive terms of three years each.