Nitin Nabin and the BJP’s Federal Soul

At forty-six, Nitin Nabin—the chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party—has taken his initial, decisive steps to assert organisational authority. Stepping out from the long shadows cast by the seasoned political heavyweights of the Centre, the Modi-Shah duo, is a formidable endeavour. Yet, in orchestrating his inaugural slate of office bearers, Nabin has demonstrated subtle tactical adroitness, signalling a deliberate shift. Bringing back feisty Smriti Irani, who had fallen from grace, and giving Ram Madhav a position in the organisation is literally like showing a red flag to a charging bull. But Nitin Nabin has done that.

Historically, the BJP’s organisational machinery functioned as an uncompromising proving ground. Young political aspirants honed their skills and political instincts within the cadre before being thrust into the brutal crucible of electoral competition. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh and its modern reincarnation, the BJP, adhered to a foundational principle of internal cultivation. Lacking the dynastic structure of the mighty Indian National Congress, then led by Jawaharlal Nehru, Jana Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mookerjee recognised that survival depended on recruiting deeply committed, strategically skilled organisers. It was, in every sense, a classic political David versus Goliath struggle.

Crucially, the Jana Sangh and subsequently the BJP possessed a disciplined cadre base in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Yet, beyond relying on the RSS, the party engineered its own mechanisms to forge political leadership. Under the ideological stewardship of Deendayal Upadhyaya, an exceptional upper echelon emerged—a constellation of leaders including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, Balraj Madhok, Vasantrao Oka, Sundarlal Patwa and Bhairav Singh Shekhawat. Even while far from power, the Jana Sangh deliberately fostered healthy internal rivalry among its key figures.

As the party established regional footholds, grassroots leaders and those strategically deployed from the central organisation competed vigorously to cultivate authentic mass appeal. Once a leader proved their mettle at the state level, they were elevated to national prominence. The central leadership would even create political hurdles to test a state leader’s resilience and tactical acumen. The objective was twofold: to cultivate state-level commanders capable of expanding the party’s footprint and deepening its roots, and to project it to the Indian electorate as a credible, natural party of governance.

Because executive positions were scarce in those early years, the original nucleus of party builders was rewarded once power materialised. Bhairav Singh Shekhawat eventually rose to the Vice Presidency, Atal Bihari Vajpayee assumed the Prime Ministership, and Sundarlal Patwa became Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. This organic evolution reflected a federal leadership paradigm—allowing state leaders to vie for dominance, with the victor assuming regional stewardship or being integrated into the parliamentary leadership structure.

This decentralised incubator worked wonders while the BJP remained in opposition. However, once the party tasted sustained power between 1999 and 2004, a subtle yet profound paradigm shift took root. The organisation, historically the party’s beating heart and moral anchor, gradually saw its status diminish. With the subsequent rise of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah at the helm of the national government, the organisational apparatus became increasingly subservient to the legislative and executive arms. Regional figures of formidable mass standing were superseded by high-command centralism. While this concentration of organisational power granted the party unprecedented agility to conquer new electoral territories, it simultaneously sapped regional vitality and eroded its traditional federal balance.

With long-term power came its inevitable trappings. Gone were the austere, cadre-focused eras championed by figures like Deendayal Upadhyaya, Bacharaj Vyas, Kushabhau Thakre and Jana Krishnamurthi. In the contemporary era, central nomination has largely supplanted organic regional ascension. Where state units once generated mass leaders like Bhairav Singh Shekhawat or Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan, figures like Bhajan Lal Sharma are now designated from above. Where grassroots stalwarts like Sundarlal Patwa and Shivraj Singh Chouhan once climbed the ranks in Madhya Pradesh, a Mohan Yadav is selected. While certain central experiments, such as Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra, have yielded notable political dividends, other top-down appointments remain open to intense debate.

It is against this complex historical backdrop that Nitin Nabin’s new team assumes office. Preparing the party machine for future electoral battles against a resurgent opposition is only one dimension of the mandate. The far more formidable task lies in revitalising the federal, organic leadership model that was once the defining hallmark of the Jana Sangh and early BJP.

Maintaining discipline, ideological purity and selflessness in the lean years of opposition is vastly different from preserving those virtues amidst the bountiful spoils of long-term governance. Whether Nitin Nabin can successfully lift this metaphorical Shiva Dhanusha and restore organisational equilibrium from the bottom up, or whether central overreach will remain an indelible albatross around the party’s neck, stands as one of the most compelling questions confronting the party’s future.

(The writer is a political commentator based in Mumbai. Views personal.)