Sources have revealed that the BJP leadership is preparing for another round of discussions with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to resolve the ongoing deadlock over the selection of the party’s next national president.
The high-level talks are expected to take place next week when top RSS leaders, including Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, will be in Delhi, the sources added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the RSS headquarters in Nagpur on March 30 — his first in over a decade as PM — failed to produce a breakthrough on the issue.
The core of the disagreement lies in differing priorities: Modi is reportedly backing a candidate of his choosing, while the RSS is pushing for a leader with strong organisational credentials rather than someone who merely serves as a “rubber stamp.”
In the run-up to the renewed discussions, the BJP leadership, including Modi, has been holding internal strategy sessions since Tuesday to prepare for what could be a significant generational transition within the party and to shortlist possible candidates for the top post.
Veteran party leaders have drawn parallels to the leadership shift in 2010 when, following two consecutive Lok Sabha defeats, the RSS under newly-appointed chief Mohan Bhagwat orchestrated the appointment of Nitin Gadkari, then a political outsider in Delhi circles, as BJP president.
That decision overruled heavyweight figures in the party such as L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj, and Rajnath Singh.
A senior BJP leader pointed out, “In 2010, the Sangh pressed for a generational shift to revive the party. This time, Bhagwat seems to be advocating a similar overhaul.”
However, the Delhi-based leadership bloc later blocked Gadkari’s reappointment for a second term in 2013, following the emergence of corruption allegations against him.
According to party insiders, the RSS continues to be wary of what it perceives as the re-emergence of a tightly knit coterie at the heart of the BJP’s decision-making process.
This concern deepened after senior leaders like Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Gadkari were dropped from the party’s powerful parliamentary board in 2022.
The upcoming RSS-BJP discussions are also expected to address pending appointments for state-level party chiefs, particularly in key regions like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Odisha, and Himachal Pradesh.
Factional infighting, along with the absence of clarity on the national president’s position, has delayed these decisions.
As per the BJP’s constitution, the process to select a new national president can only proceed once organisational elections are completed in at least half of the states.
Traditionally, both national and state-level presidents are selected through consensus, rather than contested elections.
