Eye on 2027 polls, BJP plans organisational rejig

THe Bharatiya Janata company’s (BJP) coming organisational rejig is expected to be proclaimed shortly after the election of the young subject president, which will likely happen next week, and it will be done with an eye on polls scheduled for 2027, said people familiar with the details.According to one of them, a senior party official, the process of electing the new national president is likely to begin on January 18 with the notification of the poll process, to be followed by filing of the nominations for the position, and declaration of results. “Since it is likely there will be no contest, the formal elevation of the working president Nitin Nabin is likely to be on January 20 at the party headquarters,” added this person, who asked not to be named.The attention will then shift to the new team of national office bearers that will be picked soon after.“The party has already indicated that the composition of the new team will be a mix of the young and the experienced, but one factor that will also be kept in mind is the selection of people, since the party has already begun preparations for the elections in the seven states in 2027,” added a second person, a party functionary.The new President and team will have their hands full –– the party will head into elections in four states and a Union Territory soon after, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry (The BJP is in power in only one, Assam). Next year, elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat. The BJP is in power in four of these states; Manipur is under President’s Rule; and Himachal and Punjab are ruled by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), respectively.According to the people cited in the first instance, the party has already begun the process of assessing the mood on the ground in the states that go to polls in 2027, and is seeking feedback from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), its ideological parent. “The party has its work cut out; at least a year to 18 months before the polls, we begin the process of assessing the mood, flagging the issues that need attention, and see what can be done to reduce anti-incumbency…,” said another party functionary from one of the poll-bound states.The functionary, who asked not to be named, said that in states where the BJP has been in power for a long time “voter fatigue” is more palpable. Pro-people policies with a focus on social welfare and the politics of social engineering have helped the BJP-led NDA government buck anti-incumbency in many states, the people cited above said, but added that an early start, by way of surveys, gives the party the chance to counter public anger and apathy.“In the opposition ruled states, we have a long list of administrative failures that we will go to the people with, but in states where we have to defend our governance, we need sharper outreach. For instance, in Manipur, the party will need a strong narrative and formidable candidates…” said the second party functionary.In the last cycle, the BJP lost Punjab as it was expected to (it has never won in the state), but it also lost Himachal Pradesh, where it was the incumbent with the Congress successfully managing to make the return to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), an electoral issue with a state-wide resonance across castes.In Gujarat, where the party has been in power since 1995, the party is looking for a generational shift, while anti-incumbency and governance issues will dominate the election campaign in Goa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, the people said.