The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is filling up the vacant party president posts in various states one after the other, is getting ready for the election of BJP national president post, in place of J P Nadda, who has been there in the post since January 2020, after Amit Shah.
There is a widespread speculation that this time the BJP might consider appointing a woman, especially from South India, as its national president, as the party wants to expand its footprints to the South in a big way.
The front runners for the post, as being talked about in the party circles since Thursday, are Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, former Andhra Pradesh BJP chief and Rajahmundry MP Daggubati Purandeswari, and BJP Mahila Morcha national president Vanathi Srinivasan.
This will be the first time that a woman president will be appointed for the saffron party; apparently in a bid project itself as a progressive party with an idea of promoting women's leadership within the party.
Nirmala Sitaraman is said to be keen on continuing in the Union cabinet and is not willing to take the responsibility of leading the party at this stage.
On the other hand Vanathi Srinivasan is not a big name in the national politics and she is mostly confined to Tamil Nadu politics, where the BJP has little presence.
So, the most talked about name is obviously Daggubati Purandeswari, who had been the Union minister in the past and also BJP national general secretary till recently.
Since she also has the experience of leading the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, she is said to be the right choice.
That Purandeswari was also made a part of one of the seven all-party delegations constituted by the central government to expose Pakistan’s terror activities on global platforms shows her clout in Delhi.
She is an eloquent speaker and can attract all sections people, party sources said.
However, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological strength of the BJP, might not prefer Purandeshwari, though it has endorsed the idea of appointing a woman to the party's top post, recognising both the symbolic and strategic advantages of female leadership.
The main reason for the RSS not preferring Purandeshwari as the national BJP chief, according to sources, is her lack of Sangh background.
She has never been a serious BJP ideologue, as she was associated with the TDP initially and later, the Congress for a long time.
So, if Purandeshwari is made the BJP national president, she might not appeal to the BJP cadre much, as she doesn’t carry the Hindutva ideology.
“That might prove detrimental to the interest of the party in the coming days,” sources said.
