BJP national executive meeting on Jan 16, 17; Nadda’s tenure extension on cards

According to reports, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) national executive meeting would be conducted in the national capital on January 16 and 17.

The party is set to discuss on the next Assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, according to sources. The tenure of BJP national president JP Nadda may be extended at the executive meeting. Nadda’s three-year tenure as party president expires at the end of this month.

Apart from that, several organisational decisions will be made.

The governing party has raised the number of Lok Sabha seats it believes would be tough to win in 2024 from 144 to 160.

Bihar controls a big portion of the seats, as it prepares to contest elections on its own in the majority of them after separating with the Janata Dal (United).

The party is attempting to broaden its organisational network and reach out to voters in these 160 seats, in which the BJP has enlisted the help of key Union Ministers.

According to reports, the party’s highest officials examine the party’s efforts in these seats on a regular basis.

In the 2019 elections, the BJP created a similar list of tough seats and won a big number of them.
In 2019, the party gained 303 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, up from 282 in 2014.

The proposed assembly elections in many states are being considered as the ‘semi-final’ of the Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2024.

Apart from the northeastern states, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana are also going to have assembly elections this year.

Assembly elections will be held first in the northeastern states of Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya. There is a possibility that elections will be held in these states in February or March.

The tenure of their assemblies is ending on different dates in March. While Tripura is ruled by the BJP, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party is in power in Nagaland.

Meghalaya is governed by the National People’s Party, the only party in the northeast to have national party status.

Elections in three states will be held simultaneously and after that elections will be held in Karnataka. The term of Karnataka’s 224-member assembly ends on May 24. Elections in the BJP-ruled state could be held in late April or early May.

At the same time, the terms of the assemblies of Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana will end on different dates in December this year and January 2024.

The term of the 40-member Mizoram assembly ends on December 17, while the terms of the Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh assemblies end on January 3 and January 6, 2024.

Thereafter, the terms of the Rajasthan and Telangana Assemblies are expiring on January 14 and January 16, 2024.

In such a situation, the possibility of simultaneous elections in these five states cannot be ruled out.
Apart from the assembly elections of nine states, the possibility of assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir this year cannot be ruled out.