From Maharashtra to Andhra Pradesh, meet BJP’s new state chiefs

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) elected presidents in six states on Tuesday, bringing the total number of organisational chiefs to 22 since the start of the internal polls last year. It also means it has completed the necessary formalities to get the election of its national president underway now.

On Tuesday, uncontested nominations were filed in Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. Ravindra Chavan, N Ramchander Rao, P V N Madhav, Rajeev Bindal, and Mahendra Bhatt were formally announced as party presidents in their respective states, a day after they were the only leaders to file nomination papers.

Similarly, Anil Tiwari was elected as party president in Andaman & Nicobar.
In the days ahead, a few more state presidents, including in West Bengal, will also be appointed. Since Hemant Khandelwal, a seasoned lawmaker and incumbent MLA, was the only candidate to submit a nomination in Madhya Pradesh, he was appointed the new president on Wednesday.

V P Ramalingam was voted as the Puducherry BJP chief on Monday, while K Beichhua was named the party’s leader in Mizoram. The election of several state heads in recent days has fulfilled a major BJP constitutional demand to begin the nomination process for its national president, who would succeed incumbent J P Nadda.

Its constitution mandates that presidents be elected in at least 19 of its 37 organisational states before the process to elect a national president begins. Elected in January 2020, Nadda has been on an extension since his three-year term expired, first for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and then for the present organisational process.

State and union territory-wise party presidents of the Bharatiya Janata Party.