'You are my boss', says PM as Nabin takes over as BJP's 12th president

NABIN CALLS ON YOUTH TO ENTER POLITICS

- SIMONTINI BHATTACHARJEE

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday officially appointed Bihar leader Nitin Nabin as its 12th national president, replacing J P Nadda and signalling what the party leadership described as a generational shift in the organisation at a politically significant time. Nabin, 45, becomes the youngest BJP president in the party's history and among the youngest since Amit Shah took the post in 2014, as the party prepares for a busy election cycle and an organisational restructuring exercise that has been pending for years.

The installation took place at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party's top leadership attended the ceremony before escorting Nabin to his new office. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, outgoing BJP president Nadda and party general secretary BL Santhosh were present when Nabin formally assumed charge. Members of Nabin's family, including his wife and children, were also at the headquarters for the event.

In his address to party workers, Modi described Nabin as a "millennial" leader with youthful energy and wide organisational experience. Modi said Nabin represented a generation shaped by rapid social and technological change, from the era of radio in childhood to artificial intelligence, linking the party's future mobilisation efforts to leaders who can navigate evolving political communication and newer methods of public outreach.