This special report focuses on the appointment of Nitin Naveen as the 13th and youngest-ever National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). At 45, Naveen’s elevation signifies a strategic generational shift within the party leadership. Reflecting on his journey from grassroots worker to the top post, Nitin Naveen stated, ‘I always say that the workers held my hand and taught me how to work, and today it is because of those workers that I have been able to reach this position.’ The programme features insights from political analysts Rajat Sethi and Javed Ansari, who discuss the significance of Naveen being a consensus candidate backed by both the BJP top brass and the RSS. The report highlights Naveen’s political lineage as the son of veteran leader Naveen Kishore Prasad Sinha and his track record in Bihar. Analysts suggest this move serves as a message to the opposition regarding leadership transition while the BJP remains at its strongest.
00:06Bini Kumar Singh, director of Dr. Shama Prasad Mukherjee Research Foundation,
00:10all of them joining us.
00:13Rajat, you know, for somebody who is just about 45 and one can't quite get over how young
00:19Nitin Nabeen actually is, to be made the party president of a outfit of a political party so
00:26well entrenched at a time which is crucial for the BJP. You're not just headed into crucial state
00:31elections, you're possibly headed into a 2029 election under the leadership of Mr. Nithin Nabeen.
00:39Rajat Sethi, good evening to you and to the fellow panelists.
00:44Well, first thing first, I belong to a school of thought where leadership, nobody is born as a
00:51leader. You exercise leadership whenever there is a challenge before you. And I believe when it comes
00:57to the BJP's new chief, Nitin Nabeen, he has demonstrated it when, you know, tough circumstances
01:05were there in the state of Bihar, managing the relationship with JTU, doing a lot of organizational
01:10work in several states where he was given a charge off. And at the end of the day, you know, newer
01:15challenges will come before him. And it is up to him how he's, you know, trying to fit into the new
01:22role, fit into much, much bigger shows. But the training of the BJP is such and the training of
01:27the RSS is such that there are fundamentals that you as a Karakarta is made aware of. You know what
01:34an organization or a Karakarta, being a Karakarta implies. And I think that is the single biggest
01:40check mark which Nitin Nabeen satisfies. You know, the sheer joy, if you go to party
01:46office right now, the youngsters, the kind of energy that you see right now in the party office,
01:52was for a period of time was missing. And I believe this is where Nitin Nabeen has started to make a much,
01:59much bigger difference than what was anticipated when his name was just simply announced. And I believe
02:04that he will continue to energize the youth behind the BJP. And age plays a tremendous role. He has
02:11seen at least three or four generations of Yuva Murcha Karakartas emerging from the Yuva Murcha,
02:17going into the parent body of the BJP. So he has deep networks, which, you know, from from a viewers
02:23point of view, who do not know the organization of the BJP, it might just seem a little bit odd. But he
02:28is deeply connected individual. He knows people not just in the parent party, but a plethora of
02:35party members across the board. And this is what BJP does. And this is what RSS training does.
02:40They write from the very young age, they debut you in various states across the geography of the
02:45country, so that you get that training and you build those family level relationships,
02:49which help you when you get into such a position, you have those networks in place,
02:53and you can jumpstart into that role. And I believe this is the reason why, you know,
02:58why we are talking about this organizational person so many times repeatedly over the past
03:04few weeks since he's been anointed. It's an important post. And that's one of the main
03:08reasons we're talking about it so much. It's the party president of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
03:12And Javed Ansari, I want to bring you in on this. And you know, there's a larger question,
03:16Javed, when you, what's the biggest messaging? Is it somebody who's just 45 years old,
03:21which is surprising, has come in to be helming a party like the BJP? Or the sheer fact,
03:27that organization above party himself, and that's the larger messaging?
03:35Well, the fact is, the significance of his appointment lies in the fact that he's,
03:39he's a consensus candidate. He's been chosen by the BJP bigwigs, by Prime Minister Renan Modi,
03:47Mr. Amit Shah. And it also has the rubber stamp of the RSS. He's been chosen at a time. He assumes
03:55presidentship at a time, and much was made of the fact that there was a delay, that there was
04:00talk of some kind of tussle between the government and the RSS. But all that has been laid to rest.
04:07Now, Mr. Nitin Labeen comes at a time when the BJP is at its strongest. Its footprint across the country
04:14has never been as large as it is today. What he has, all he has to do is stay the course.
04:21For him, the bigger challenge will be, and here the political management skills of the BJP's,
04:27Tom Brass will also come into play. Because, you know, either he keeps looking over his shoulder,
04:32whether there's Mr. Amit Shah, his immediate predecessor, Mr. Nadda, Mr. Radhanath Singh,
04:38Mr. Gadkari, and there is, of course, the Prime Minister. Or is he allowed to chart his own course
04:44within the framework of what the BJP stands for and what is the BJP's core areas? Looking from the,
04:53as far as the optics are concerned, the BJP top brass has chosen to put its shoulder behind the wheel.
04:58There's a visible display of unity and solidarity, all of them lining up behind Mr. Nitin.
05:07And I don't foresee too much of a problem for him, because as far as the political heavy lifting
05:14is concerned, that will be done by the Prime Minister and Mr. Amit Shah. The nuts and bolts,
05:18of course, he has a lot of experienced hands to fall back upon for advice. So unless something
05:24really out of the ordinary happens, I think Mr. Nitin Nabeen ought to have an easy ride in office.
05:31Well, you know, and also, what is a better time than to make a generational shift? When you're at
05:35your strongest and when you can actually make it where it's acceptable to all and it's well entrenched.
05:39You know, give us a moment. We're going to just dip in to who really is Nitin Nabeen. And that's a
05:44question, and you're not wrong. Many of you have, because it's someone who's possibly risen from the
05:48ranks. Nobody quite knew who Nitin Nabeen was, till his name came up as the interim BJP
05:52president. He's no longer interim folks. He is now firmly positioned as the 13th party president
05:58of the BJP, the youngest ever party president of the BJP. Take a look of where Nitin Nabeen comes
06:04from, and we're joined by our other guests as well on the other side.
06:2545-year-old Nitin Nabeen is not just another political leader.
06:29This millennial BJP leader rose to the top job in the party from grassroots politics.
06:38He's a second-generation politician of the Safran party. Yet he traversed through each step of the
06:45ladder in the party to rise to the top. His is not the story of a parent handing over the mantle under
06:52watchful eyes. Nitin Nabeen's father, veteran BJP leader and former MLA, Nabeen Kishore Prasad Sinha,
07:02passed away in 2006. Nitin Nabeen was 25 years old. He stood in his father's shoes and contested the
07:10by-election from Patna West Assembly constituency, left vacant by his father's untimely demise.
07:16I want to remember his father, Surya Nabeen Kishore Prasad Sinha ji, because they have
07:26given me the opportunity to do with the leadership. But in the same way, they have been involved with me
07:34and I always say that I have learned to work with my fingers and I have learned to work with my fingers.
07:42Thank you very much.
08:12Niten Nabeen was born on January 23rd, 1980 in Patna.
08:25His father, Nabeen Kishore Sinha, was a four-time Emily of Bihar BGP.
08:31Demise of his father when he was in his mid-twenties meant Niten Nabeen had to shoulder family responsibilities along with the political legacy.
08:40He was young but not lost.
08:44Niten Nabeen's maternal family helped him build his foundation.
08:49Niten Nabeen started his party work like any other member.
08:54He would put up posters during election season, arrange chairs at meetings, sit with party workers and listen to people's problems in the neighbourhoods.
09:04But gradually, he began to gain recognition within the party as a young man who works quietly and does not shy away from responsibility.
09:14The party will make the most short-termienk.
09:24foreign
09:31foreign
09:37foreign
09:42foreign
09:47foreign
09:53Not even from his own.
09:58Nitin Nabeen became a prominent BJP leader at a young age.
10:02He's one of those few people who spent his life in strengthening the BJP in Bihar.
10:10Behrar Report, India today.
10:14Alright, let's also bring in Binne Kumar Singh, director of Dr. Shamir Prasad Mukherjee Research Foundation.
10:19Mr. Kumar, what do you think is the biggest message from this investigerian appointment?
10:25Do you think this is somebody as young as 45-year-old, generational shift?
10:29Or do you think the clear message is just organization above everything else?
10:35So the party, they talk about politicization of youth.
10:41But BJP has went a step further.
10:44It is youthization of politics.
10:47It is a youth politics.
10:51And BJP is a party of youth.
10:53And I have been able to see some comments backed by...
10:58So these terminologies backed by or hacked by...
11:02These are not of BJP's dictionary.
11:05The party leadership has, you know,
11:08witted him and I think they have tested him for a long period.
11:14And the party has found him fit to hold this, you know, big position.
11:21And anybody who knows him personally, they know about his, you know, the leadership skills, the other, you know, qualities of his personality.
11:34He is a wonderful human being, a true leader, and I think he is going to prove his mettle.
11:40All right, let's see.
11:40Well, he has his task cut out and right up there in the next two months are four elections.
11:44But Javed Ansari, you know, the other question that one needs to reflect on, this is also messaging to the principal opposition party, the Congress.
11:51If you're talking about a generational shift, it hasn't just happened with the party president being just 45 years old.
11:56Look at the chief minister of Maharashtra, who's 55 years old.
12:00Look at Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh.
12:03Then you have the Assam chief minister, who's of course, Hemant Abhiswa Sarma, going into an election.
12:08There seems to be a larger plan and strategy, which possibly the Congress could learn from.
12:13Well, certainly they could learn from, but also don't forget, when you are in power and you wield this kind of influence and position, it's much easier to implement these kind of things.
12:26The Congress also tried to do it.
12:27They tried to replace Mr. Gellot with Sachin Pilate.
12:31He's young, but we know what happened.
12:34They failed.
12:35They tried with today, the fact that Jyotir Aditya Sindhya is in the BJP and he's left his parent party owes a lot to the fact that they couldn't get him to become chief minister of the state.
12:47The old guard dug in their heels and the central leadership of the Congress party was not in a position to have their way.
12:55So herein lies the difference.
12:57The BJP central leadership can make or ma the prospect.
13:02They are the ones who deliver.
13:03However, the Congress leadership is not in that position.
13:07They don't wield that kind of influence and therefore they are unable to ensure that their game plan succeeds even within their own party.
13:16You know, they no longer wield the kind of power and influence that they used to when they were in power in the central government and when they were ruling the roost.
13:26You know, fair point, you know, just very quickly, Rajat, if you want to come in, because, you know, to do it at a time when you are all powerful and pervasive works best because then everything falls in line.
13:38It was an opportunity missed by the Congress when possibly they were in a, when they had that kind of power that the BJP has today.
13:51Rajat, the questions for you.
13:52Okay, I think we've lost Rajat.
13:55Okay, we've lost Rajat City, but thank you, all three of you, for joining us.
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