Rohit Kumar
NEW DELHI, Dec 15: The 45-year old Bihar minister Nitin Nabin on Monday took over as the national working president of the BJP signaling a generational shift in the ruling party.
Son of a veteran BJP leader, Nabin was received by the union home minister Amit Shah, the union health minister and the current BJP president JP Nadda and other senior BJP leaders and ministers when he arrived at the BJP headquarters in Delhi to take over the party’s charge. Earlier when he arrived in Delhi from Patna on Monday afternoon, he was received at the Indira Gandhi International Airport by the Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta and a large number of BJP workers who shouting slogans and dancing to the beats of drums.
Mr Nabin was named the national working president by the party’s Parliamentary Board on Sunday as a precursor to taking over the party’s reins from Mr Nadda, who is currently on extension against the party’s theory of “one man, one post.” His appointment is seen as a key move to boost coordination and strategy at the national level.
His appointment comes in the backdrop of most major political parties in India being headed by the leaders well into their seventies and eighties. Among senior national-level leaders of major political parties, newly appointed BJP National Working President Nitin Nabin, at 45, is the youngest, underlining a visible contrast in leadership age profiles across the political spectrum.
A comparison with other national and regional parties highlights this gap clearly. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is 83 years old, while Nationalist Congress Party-SP (NCP-SP) chief Sharad Pawar is 85. Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is 70, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) boss and ex-Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati is 69, and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is 72. In each of these parties, leadership continues to rest with veterans who have dominated their organizations for decades.
Other leaders older than Nitin Nabin include Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who is 57; National Conference leader and Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, aged 55; and Samajwadi Party president and ex-Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, 52. Against this backdrop, Nitin Nabin’s age places him in a distinct category. For a leader getting appointed for a major national role even before turning 50 symbolizes a generational contrast that has increasingly shaped political narratives.
Commenting on the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla wrote on
Political observers note that the BJP’s leadership structure reflects a conscious emphasis on succession planning and long-term organizational continuity. Over the past decade, the party has consistently projected leaders who are expected to remain politically active for years rather than relying solely on legacy figures nearing the twilight of their careers.
This approach has been particularly noticed in the BJP’s handling of leadership transitions after electoral victories. Following the 2023 Assembly elections, the BJP appointed relatively younger and first-time Chief Ministers in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, opting for leaders with administrative potential and long political runways over more senior contenders. The decisions were widely seen as an attempt to invest in governance faces who could shape state politics over the next decade.
According to analysts, the BJP seems to have also placed emphasis on grooming leaders through sustained roles within the party and government, allowing them to accumulate administrative experience early. From state units to parliamentary leadership, the party has repeatedly signaled that longevity and adaptability matter as much as seniority.
Nitin Nabin is only the second person in the party’s history to occupy the post, the first was being the outgoing president Nadda. Interestingly, the BJP’s constitution does not have a provision for appointing a working president. But since 2019, this post has become a stepping stone before one takes over the BJP chief’s role.
In June 2019, Nadda was named the BJP working president after Shah became the Union Home Minister. He remained in the post for about six months and assisted Shah before being formally elected the BJP national president in January 2020. Nadda has now served as the party chief for nearly six years. As per the BJP’s Constitution, a leader can serve as President for two terms of three years each.
According to BJP leaders, the appointment of a working president is an interim arrangement. There is another factor. Khar Maas, a month-long period considered inauspicious by Hindus, begins tomorrow. This explains why Nabin was named the working president yesterday. Once this period ends on January 14, Makar Sankranti, the process for electing the new party chief may begin.
The BJP has already finished conducting organizational elections in 30 out of 37 states and Union Territories. This is significant because completing organizational polls in at least half of the country’s states is a requirement for initiating the election for the party chief.
According to BJP leaders, the presidential election would take at least four days and may be completed soon after January 14. While a formal election will be held, Nabin’s election is being seen as a foregone conclusion because the BJP and its ideological parent, RSS, focus on unanimity in such cases. Nabin, in that case, will be assisting Nadda and learning the ropes before he takes over as BJP chief, much like Nadda learned from Shah six years back.
Forty-five-year-old Nitin Nabin is the Road Construction minister in Bihar and a five-time MLA from Bankipur in Patna. He became an MLA for the first time at the age of 26 after the Patna West Assembly seat was vacated due to the death of his father and BJP veteran Navin Kishore Sinha. A Kayastha by birth, Nabin is now set to become the first BJP chief from Bihar and east India. If he takes over as the party’s national chief next year, he will be the youngest BJP president in history, breaking the record of Nitin Gadkari, who took over at the age of 52.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi showered praise on Nabin and said he has distinguished himself as a hardworking worker. “He is a young and industrious leader with rich organizational experience and has an impressive record as MLA as well as Minister in Bihar for multiple terms. He has worked diligently to fulfill people’s aspirations.
“He is known for his humble nature and grounded style of working. I am confident that his energy and dedication will strengthen our party in the times to come,” the Prime Minister said. In the past, Nabin has served as the BJP in-charge in Chhattisgarh and Sikkim.
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