Union Minister JP Nadda named Rajya Sabha Leader of the House
It was anticipated that JP Nadda, who succeeded current Union Home Minister Amit Shah in 2020 as the BJP's national president, would resign from that position after taking an oath of office as a union minister
On Monday, JP Nadda, Union Minister and national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, was designated as the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha. Nadda assumed control of the Union Health Ministry earlier this month. He was also given a job at the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers. Nadda will now replace Piyush Goyal’s place as the House Leader.
It was anticipated that JP Nadda, who succeeded current Union Home Minister Amit Shah in 2020 as the BJP’s national president, would resign from that position after taking an oath of office as a union minister.
Nonetheless, it appears that Nadda will continue to serve as the head of the BJP. The party’s statutes stipulate that a national president may only be chosen once the organisation polls have been conducted in half of the states, which should take about six months.
JP Nadda: Who is he?
When Nadda began working as an activist for the Bihar Movement, commonly known as the JP Movement, in 1975, his political career took off. After that, he joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), ran for Patna University’s student Central Association presidency, and was elected secretary in 1977.
In Ranchi, he participated actively in student politics from 1977 to 1979.
He was originally chosen from Himachal Pradesh to serve in the Rajya Sabha in 2012, and in 2014, after Amit Shah became the party’s leader, he was added to the BJP’s parliamentary board.
He previously had three terms as an MLA in the Bilaspur assembly of Himachal Pradesh, from 1993 to 2007.
The LoH post, which was formerly held by the late Arun Jaitley and Thawar Chand Gehlot, has been assigned to Nadda since he is the most senior member of his party and because of his background in legislative affairs.
Nadda’s “affability, his temperament and patience” will be “assets” in assisting the BJP in navigating complex circumstances in the House that call for communication between the government and the Opposition, a party leader claimed.
With 90 members in the House (including 5 nominated MPs), the BJP is the only party with more than 100 members. However, in order to enact legislation in the Upper House, the BJP will probably require the assistance of allies and parties that are not affiliated with the NDA or the opposition’s INDIA Bloc. With 11 MPs from the YSRCP and 9 from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), it is unlikely to receive their backing. Although neither party belonged to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), they supported the BJP in its legislative endeavours.
After ten years of YSRCP control, the BJP drove the BJD out of office in both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, bringing the NDA alliance led by the TDP and Jana Sena to power.
Nadda started his political journey as a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of the party’s ideological fount, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He was a three-term legislative assembly member in Himachal Pradesh starting 1993. In April 2012, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from the state. In 2014 when the BJP came to power at the Centre, he was appointed as Union minister for health and family welfare and was renominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2018.
Commenting on his designation as LoH, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in a post on X said, “Greetings to @JPNadda ji on his being nominated as the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha. As Venkaiah Naidu garu might have said – if the Leader of the House can accommodate, the Opposition can cooperate. As Venkaiah Naidu garu might have said – if the Leader of the House can accommodate, the Opposition can cooperate.”
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