“Mark my words, we are winning Amethi and Kannauj,” BJP’s then UP in-charge JP Nadda had stated emphatically midway through the seven phased Lok Sabha polls.

The triumph in Amethi and Kannauj and BJP’s remarkable performance in UP, where it thwarted the formidable caste alliance of SP-BSP-RLD to win 64 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats along with its ally Apna Dal, confirmed his skills as an organisational hand capable of delivering in tough conditions.

Defence minister and Lucknow MP Rajnath Singh on Monday announced Nadda’s elevation as BJP’s working president, a decision taken by the party’s powerful parliamentary board on Monday evening.

The party’s show in UP under the watch of the 58-year-old leader whose omission from the Modi 2.0 ministry had first indicated real possibility of his elevation.

In the brief five months since he was declared party’s UP in-charge, Nadda, who is from Himachal Pradesh and was health minister in Narendra Modi’s previous government, along with party’s general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal travelled to nearly 70 Lok Sabha constituencies, holding cadre meetings, giving tips and implementing strategies on the ground.

“Ever since the SP-BSP announced their pact, the BJP cadre was a little apprehensive. It had faith in Modi magic but was unsure of how the caste chemistry would unfold in the wake of the alliance. Quietly, Nadda managed to convince the cadre through series of workers’ meets that the party would overcome the caste challenge,” a BJP leader said.

A Brahmin, his appointment also helped communicate to the upper castes that the party, busy focusing on backwards and Dalits, would continue to invest in them, a BJP leader said.

“With his elevation the party would continue to gain newer heights,” UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey said as the party’s state unit, including Bansal, called up Nadda to congratulate him on his elevation.

“Nadda is also viewed as a leader who can successfully implement strategies even under tough conditions. Prevailing over the SP-BSP alliance was indeed formidable and he, as Shah’s eyes and ears in UP, did brilliantly,” said Athar Siddiqui of the Centre for Objective Research and Development (CORD).

“He has been a very simple, easy going leader. We are blessed to have a leadership like Modi and Amit Shah ji who have picked him. We are grateful to the parliamentary board,” said BJP media in-charge Manish Dixit who had worked closely with Nadda during the elections.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath is expected to travel to Delhi on Tuesday to meet and congratulate Nadda on his new role.

Union home minister Amit Shah, who Nadda is expected to formally replace after the party’s membership drive and organisational polls end by year-end, too, was UP in-charge in 2014 Lok Sabha polls and had been similarly rewarded for a spectacular performance from UP then. The BJP had then won 71 seats on its own while two seats had been won by ally Apna Dal.

First Published: Jun 18, 2019 11:02 IST