BJP appoints K Laxman as Returning Officer for organisational polls

BJP OBC Morcha Chief and MP K Laxman has been appointed Returning Officer for the party’s organizational elections that will culminate in the election of President JP Nadda’s successor early next year.

In a press statement, BJP said on Tuesday that Nadda has appointed Laxman as the Returning Officer and he will be assisted by three co-returning officers- MPs Naresh Bansal and Sambit Patra as well as party Vice President Sambit Patra. These names were decided by the BJP National Executive Committee.

Party sources said the process of electing the next president will pick up pace after the Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections get over on November 23. Meanwhile, the state units of BJP are electing their office-bearers who in turn will vote for the President. Though for all practical purposes the name of the President is decided by the BJP high command in consultation with the RSS brass and then conveyed to the state units, the party goes through the process of putting its team of office bearers in states during this process.


Nadda was given an extension in 2023 keeping the Lok Sabha elections in mind and will continue in the post till his successor is elected. The buzz of choosing a working president that began soon after Nadda was inducted into the Narendra Modi cabinet with the important portfolios of Health and Family Welfare as well as Chemicals and Fertilisers, died down when no such call was taken before the Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir Assembly polls.

The new President will be in place by mid-January and the election will be endorsed by the BJP National Council in the next few weeks after this. Speculations are rife about the probables but no clear front-runner has emerged as yet.