Who Will Be BJP’s New President? Decoding Factors At Play, Big Contenders

Last Updated:March 10, 2025, 07:58 IST

Region is perhaps the most important factor this time as the party will step into two key southern battles of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in less than a year

(From Top Left) G Kishan Reddy, Dharmendra Pradhan, Bhupender Yadav, Manohar Lal Khattar, Vanathi Srinivasan, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and D Purandeswari.

It is a tough ask to predict about BJP’s choices under the Narendra Modi and Amit Shah regime — whether it be a chief minister or the party’s national president. Let’s decode the big contenders and what factors are at play inside the BJP to find its next chief.

G Kishan Reddy, Dharmendra Pradhan, Bhupender Yadav, Manohar Lal Khattar, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, D Purandeshwari, Vanathi Srinivasan or a dark horse — before discussing these probable names, let’s lay out the factors.

First, the region. It is perhaps the most important factor this time as the party will step into two key southern battles of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in less than a year. So, a president from South India? We’ll get to that.

Second factor, gender. The party has never had a female national president. The Modi government is the one that has brought in the women’s reservation Bill. It has also given a female chief minister in Delhi. So, will the party finally break the glass ceiling with a woman?

Third, loyalty and organisational experience. Someone who knows the nuts and bolts of the party, has proven their worth in key election battles, and is trusted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah

Fourth, the RSS nod. With BJP’s ideological body now firmly back in the game after helping the party win in Maharashtra, Haryana and Delhi and having its say in the CM choice, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s nod will be key for the final choice as BJP president.

Now, let’s discuss the names…

Number one: G Kishan Reddy. Well, if the choice is from south India, Reddy is a front-runner. The party last gave a president from South India over two decades ago — Venkaiah Naidu from Andhra Pradesh. Before that, for about a year each, the BJP had presidents from south India in Bangaru Laxman and Jana Krishnamurthi.

Reddy is a Union minister from Telangana who has been with the party for the last 45 years and has risen through the ranks from being the president of the Bhartiya Kanata Yuva Morcha to an MLA, the party’s state president, and an MP. He is also the state president of BJP in Telangana, a state where the party had big ambitions.

His predecessor in this chair, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, is also seen as a contender for the BJP national president but Reddy seems to have an edge. With the BJP looking to expand in the South, it would make sense for the party to choose a southern face to lead it. Just some trivia — Reddy also has an old connection with Narendra Modi — both of them were together on a tour to the USA over three decades ago in 1993.

Number two and three contenders: The performers — Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhupender Yadav. Both are close to the PM as well as Amit Shah and are key strategists for the BJP. Both are also Union ministers.

The BJP has never had a president from the East — the only region to miss out so far. That makes the case of Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan very strong as he comes from Odisha, a state that BJP won for the first time in 2024. Pradhan played a big role in the victory but did not become the chief minister. He has been in-charge of Haryana last year and of Uttar Pradesh in 2022 — both states saw victories for the BJP. A silent performer who never seeks any credit, Pradhan surely has the stature for being the next BJP president.

Similar is the nature and work ethic of Bhupender Yadav, the man who was in-charge of the recent election in Maharashtra which brought a historic win for the BJP. He has delivered Uttar Pradesh to the party also in 2017 as the in-charge, which was another historic victory in the most populous state of the country. Yadav comes from Rajasthan and entered the Lok Sabha from Ajmer this time. Like Pradhan, he is also a keen organisation man and has the ability to take everyone along.

Both these leaders also have age on their side — both are 55 years old — much younger than G Kishan Reddy who is 64.

Number 4 and 5 contenders: Will it be a woman this time?

Vanathi Srinivasan, the BJP’s Mahila Morcha chief who comes from Tamil Nadu, could be a probable choice if the party wants a woman to head it. Srinivasan is also an MLA from Coimbatore South in Tamil Nadu and had defeated Kamal Hassan in the 2021 assembly polls. The key southern state polls next year, and this makes the case of Srinivasan very interesting.

Another woman’s name doing the rounds in BJP circles is D Purandeswari, Lok Sabha MP and the BJP state president in Andhra Pradesh. Many call her the ‘Sushma Swaraj of the South’ and she is the daughter of former CM of Andhra Pradesh, NT Rama Rao. She is the sister-in-law of the present Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu, a key NDA ally.

Both these women leaders come from the South, a significant regional factor as we discussed earlier.

Finally, the Number 6 and 7 contenders: Union ministers Manohar Lal Khattar and Shivraj Singh Chouhan are key probables too who carry the backing of the RSS. Khattar has been a close aide of Narendra Modi — the PM had reminisced once how he along with Khattar had ridden through Haryana on a motorcycle and worked together in their days as RSS pracharaks. Khattar as the Haryana CM was also PM Modi’s choice as he is seen as simple and honest. He was made a Union minister in the current term of the Modi government. With the RSS weighing in while recent choices as CMs were made by the BJP, Khattar could be a strong contender. The only point not in his favour would be his age, which is 70.

Some are also seeing Shivraj Singh Chouhan as a probable, a multi-term chief minister who was not made the CM after the Madhya Pradesh win in 2023 but brought to Delhi as a Union minister in-charge of agriculture. He has an old RSS connection, joining the right-wing outfit when he was just 13. Viewed as a good administrator, the PM recently made Chouhan in-charge of monitoring central schemes. At 66, Chouhan is a dark horse in the race.

Besides these probables, there could still be a big surprise from the BJP when it comes to who will be the party’s next president. The decision could come any time in March or April.

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