NEW DELHI: Even as former Union Health Minister J P Nadda is widely tipped to replace Union Home Minister Amit Shah as BJP president, party general secretary Bhupender Yadav is seen as a dark horse for the post.
Yadav, a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan, is seen as the shadow of Shah in the party. He has been party in-charge of Bihar and Gujarat and helped the party in Rajasthan too.
With Shah inducted into the Cabinet, the BJP is likely to get a new president this month.
A senior BJP functionary said, “There’s a sense within the party that the Yadavs have broken off their allegiance to SP in UP and RJD in Bihar. If Bhupender is made boss, the BJP can consolidate its gains among Yadavs, the largest backward caste in UP and Bihar.”
But Nadda, a Brahmin from Himachal who is in charge of UP, is thought to enjoy PM Narendra Modi’s blessings.
“Nadda can take credit for the BJP winning 62 LS seats in UP. Yet, he can’t take full credit as Shah was keeping a close watch on the organisational response to the BSP-SP challenge,” the BJP leader added. That Modi is an OBC could also go against Yadav, as the BJP might want an upper caste leader at the helm.