NEW DELHI: BJP president Amit Shah is set to get a second term as his current tenure ends in December, with the RSS leadership deciding against replacing someone whom it considers to be “extremely hardworking”.

Expectations of party dissidents that disgruntlement over the Bihar results, the second successive failure after the Delhi election, would find purchase with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) has not materialized with the Sangh, according to sources, reading the setback as a result of the rival grand alliance’s stronger social coalition.

The Bihar debacle sparked rumblings of discontent against Shah, with senior leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar holding the party chief responsible for the embarrassment and accusing him of “emasculating” the organization. However, the short-lived revolt by the veterans, sidelined in the Modi dispensation, failed to stir up any serious dissent against the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah.

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While RSS can be expected to carry out its own detailed analysis of what went wrong in Bihar, it does not seem ready to indict Shah for the failed campaign or consider allegations that the BJP organization is being run in a unilateral manner under the Modi-Shah dispensation.

Shah played a key role in BJP’s sweep of UP in the Lok Sabha elections: a key factor in the party’s outright win. His tenure also saw the party notching up wins in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, whereas successes in elections in Manipur, Kerala and Ladakh -- territories lying beyond the party’s known hunting grounds -- have also been ascribed to his ambitious expansion plan.

The criticism of factions feeling sidelined by Shah’s business-like style and promotion of younger leaders perceived to be close to the leadership has not reached anything close to critical mass.

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The formal process of Shah’s re-election as BJP president is expected to commence soon.

The Diwali-eve demand for accountability raised by Advani and others fizzled out with no significant leader, apart from known dissidents, endorsing their pitch for Shah to be held responsible for the defeats in Bihar and Delhi. In fact, Shanta Kumar distanced himself from the statement issued by the group saying he was satisfied with the party’s response while Sinha left for a foreign visit. Some time later, while voting in Gujarat’s civic election, Advani also expressed support for the policies of the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Even with the ripple in the party, there was not much doubt that Shah would be endorsed for a second term as two assembly defeats would not be the grounds for harsh action when the party scored unprecedented victories in Jharkhand, Haryana and Maharashtra. Shah is also a close associate of the PM and any stricture on him would be read as a criticism of Modi’s leadership. The unease of some leaders is more than countered by a closing of ranks by other middle and senior leaders who have solidly supported Shah in the aftermath of the Bihar defeat.