Amit Shah congratulates new BJP chief JP Nadda, says he will take party to new heights

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Updated: Jan 20, 2020 17:55 IST

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who handed over the presidentship of the BJP to Jagat Prakash Nadda on Monday, said that under his successor’s leadership the party will become stronger and expand further.

“Today, Naddaji takes over as the 11th president of the BJP and will lead us. I congratulate him on behalf of all the BJP workers and from the bottom of my heart,” Shah said at the felicitation function for Nadda at BJP headquarters in New Delhi.

“Naddaji has become our national president. We are ready to take the BJP to new heights under his leadership,” he added.

Nadda was elected unopposed as the BJP national president. His candidature was endorsed by top party brass in the nomination process.

“I would’ve made mistakes during my tenure as national president but I say with pride that every party worker, including PM Modi, blessed me with and helped me in my functioning,” Shah said.

He also said that the BJP is the ony democratic party in the country. “Other parties have lost their democratic character. They always choose party chief and chief ministerial candidate from among the family members. BJP is the only party which does not follow this. The BJP stands apart in India because it does not believe in casteism or nepotism,” Shah said.

Shah, who handed the reins to Nadda, urged all the BJP workers to help their new party chief in strengthening the BJP. “There are a few states where we are yet to attain electoral success and reach every booth. I call upon every worker to be ready to work under the leadership of PM Modi and Nadda Ji and achieve more,” Shah said.

Nadda was appointed as the BJP’s working president in June last year.

Belonging to a Brahmin family from Himachal Pradesh, it was in Bihar where Nadda got his initial lessons in politics as a student leader of the ABVP. Nadda’s father N L Nadda was an academic who also became a vice chancellor of the Patna University.

In his biodata on the website of Rajya Sabha of which he is a member, Nadda says he “was inspired by the JP Movement to join the Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti” and then associated with the ABVP and BJP’s youth wing Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha, which he also went on to head. Nadda mentions that he was detained for 45 days for leading a campaign for upgrading schools.

Not born into a political family, Nadda married into one. His wife Mallika Nadda is the daughter of a former Jabalpur Member of Parliament Jayshree Banerjee. Interestingly, while Nadda went on to take up politics like his mother-in-law, his wife like his father has pursued academics.