The old workhorse, Modi-Shah’s trusted lieutenant Jagat Prakash Nadda took over as BJP President on January 20, 2020. As per the source after almost seven months of becoming the working President of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Nadda took a step ahead and filed his nomination during the early hours of the day. The elevation to the top party post was smooth as Nadda got elected unopposed. The Top party leaders, arrived to file nomination in support of Nadda, who was seen as a long-time choice of PM Modi and Amit Shah for his post.
Senior BJP leader Radha Mohan Singh, who is in charge of the organisational election process, declared the schedule after the party’s internal poll exercise was completed in 21 of the BJP’s 36 state and Union territory units.
Let’s get to know deeper about the new BJP Chief:
The 59-year-old Jagat Prakash Nadda aka JP Nadda born in Bihar got into politics during his early age itself. In 1977 he was elected as the Secretary in the Students’ Union election in Patna, which boosted his interest in politics. This was the time when Janta Party’s attack was at its peak against then Central government led by Indira Gandhi. He was detained for 45 days for protesting against the imposition of Emergency in 1975.
Nadda later moved to Himachal Pradesh to complete his LLB from the Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla his political ambitions just grew by leaps and bounds.
Back in 1984, Nadda joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and was elected as the President of the Students’ Union when ABVP won over the Students’ Federation of India in the Himachal Pradesh University in the first go.
He held the post of National General Secretary of the ABVP from 1986-89. Nadda in 1991 was appointed as the President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).
Nadda marked his first step toward the member of the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly in 1993, after which he was elected twice– 1998, and 2007. He has held various post such as — Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs during his second term, 1998 to 2003, Ministry of Forest, Environment, Science and Technology in the Prem Kumar Dhumal government from 2008 to 2010.
His big break in national politics came in May 2010 when the then BJP president Nitin Gadkari made him the General Secretary of the party under his leadership. Since then, Nadda is working as a brilliant strategist while maintaining his low-profile.
In 2012, Nadda represented BJP in the Rajya Sabha by becoming a Member of Parliament for the first time.
Sports has been one of his interest areas, having represented Bihar in the All India Junior Swimming Championship and holding positions like President, Olympic Association of Himachal Pradesh from 2008 – 2012.
I am confident that under the leadership of Shri @AmitShah and Shri @JPNadda, and powered by the hardwork of our Karyakartas, the BJP will continue winning people’s trust and serving our society. We remain committed to building a strong, developed and inclusive India. pic.twitter.com/1YYq80N2LO
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 17, 2019
He served as health minister under Modi from 2014 to 2019 and also handled Uttar Pradesh during 2019 general elections. He bagged the crucial election in UP for BJP winning 62 seats out of 80.
Nadda is married to Mallika Nadda, and the couple has two sons. Interestingly, Nadda’s mother-in-law is former Lok Sabha Member of Parliament, Jayshree Banerjee, a senior BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh.
Nadda’s most highlighted achievement includes Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana – Ayushman Bharat (PMJAY-AB), the world’s largest healthcare program that was launched in September 2018.
With Shah joining the Modi 2.0 government as Union Home Minister, the BJP began the exercise for electing his successor as the party has the convention of ‘one person, one post’. Nadda turned out to be the fittest successor of Amit Shah.
