Next BJP president: Om Mathur could beat Amit Shah, Nadda

While JP Nadda and Amit Shah are still in the reckoning, Om Prakash Mathur may be the new BJP president. He is the late entrant in the race but has straightaway become the front runner, sources said. Mathur has several factors going for him. The 62-year-old leader belongs to Rajasthan where the BJP has posted a stupendous performance, 3/4th majority in Assembly and a 25-0 clean sweep in Lok Sabha. For last two days Rajasthan BJP leaders felt neglected for because they got only one Minister of State position in the council of ministers. Though this imbalance is likely to be corrected in cabinet expansion, expected any time after inaugural session of 16th Lok Sabha concludes, Mathur’s appointment as national president of BJP will settle any such grouse. What goes in Mathur’s favour most is that he has right seniority and has complete confidence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As the party’s in-charge of Gujarat, he has closely worked with Modi in last two Assembly elections in the state. He was there in Ahmedabad when Modi held his first public rally on May 16 evening after results were declared. Mathur also enjoys the trust of the RSS and has worked in several other states as party’s Prabhari (in-charge), besides Gujarat. Though his equations with Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje has not really been very good but then that would not be held as a disqualification. [caption id=“attachment_1544763” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] After Rajnath Singh, the race for the next BJP President is on. AFP[/caption] Rajnath Singh, the incumbent party chief’s visit to RSS headquarters on Wednesday to meet top RSS functionaries has fuelled speculation that formal consultation process for selection of new party president has begun. On his appointment as the home minister – and the notional Number Two in the Union Government – Rajnath Singh has to relinquish party president’s post. A senior party leader told Firstpost that “the new party president’s name will be announced within a fortnight. Informal consultations are already in process. Modiji has to settle a bit in the government and then he can take a final view on this issue in consultation with others.” Another senior leader said as per the current indications Mathur’s entry into the race has changed the calculations. So far JP Nadda was appeared to be the one who could be anointed as the new party president. Nadda is a mild mannered, quintessential organisational man from Himachal Pradesh who has worked his way to reach top position in the party. Nadda too enjoys Modi’s trust and was brought to central party office as general secretary by Nitin Gadkari when he took over as party chief in 2010. Mathur’s credentials would weigh slightly higher than Nadda because the former has spent longer years in the organisation. Also Mathur is a contemporary of Modi and Rajnath Singh in the party. They all are of same generation. Nadda would be younger to them. But a consensus on the next party president has not been built yet and Nadda continues to be in the reckoning. Then there is another big claimant, perhaps more rightful than anyone else in the reckoning. Amit Shah has shown that he has better organisational skills than everybody else. He has proved that he is best equipped to be the party president. UP results stand testimony to that, another BJP leader said Three factors, as some party leaders suggest, go against Amit Shah’s possible elevation to post of BJP president, at least for now. First, some cases are still pending against him. It could be a bit embarrassing for the party if something adverse comes up during hearing of these cases. Second, Prime Minister Modi and he belong to same state, Gujarat. Modi’s adopted state UP has also become Shah’s karambhoomi. Most importantly, Shah’s appointment as party president will signify that Modi’s control over the party and the government has become absolute. Though there is no doubt Modi’s command is now supreme – and even if Nadda or Mathur is made party chief he will look up at Modi for guidance – but with Shah heading the party, there will be no chance for an alternate view in the organisation. The RSS may not like that.