New Delhi: Is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) set to get its first woman president in its 45 year history? According to insiders, the names of Nirmala Sitharaman, D Purandeswari and Vanathi Srinivasan are doing the rounds.
Sources said that the selection of a woman president will stand the party good ahead of the polls in Bihar and Tamil Nadu. The BJP enjoys substantial support of women. Its push for the Women’s Reservation Bill in 2023 and selection of Rekha Gupta as chief minister of Delhi earlier this year helped the party shrug off its image as one that holds on to the teachings of the Manusmriti.
The new president will succeed J P Nadda, who has held the post since 2020. His term ended in 2023, but the BJP extended it till 2024 so he could steer the party through the Lok Sabha elections. Nadda came under fire for his comments after the party’s poor showing in Uttar Pradesh.
Among the three women who seem to have been shortlisted for the post, Sitharaman is a known fact. She has been holding the Union finance minister’s portfolio since 2019, after the BJP was elected to power for a second term. She is considered one of the most influential women in the party.
Her roots in Tamil Nadu can also be an advantage to the BJP, given the party’s push down south. She recently also met with Nadda and party general secretary B L Santhosh at the party headquarters.
D Purandeswari is the former president of the BJP’s Andhra Pradesh unit. She was also part of the Government’s all-party Operation Sindoor delegation that toured the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the EU, Italy and Denmark.
Vanathi Srinivasan, on the other hand, has held the post of BJP Mahila Morcha National President. In 2021, she defeated actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan to win the Coimbatore (South) seat in Tamil Nadu. She has been associated with the BJP since 1993 and became a member of the BJP’s Central Election Committee in 2022.
Despite getting the Women’s Reservation Bill passed, the BJP is accused of not having sufficient women legislators and Parliamentarians. Selection of a woman president will help the party.
