As the Lok Sabha remained embroiled in a fierce debate over the Waqf Amendment Bill, a moment of sharp political banter unfolded between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav. The exchange, laced with sarcasm, turned into a battle of wits over the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) delay in electing its national president.
Yadav, the MP from Kannauj, opened his speech with a barb at the ruling party. “While the Minister said the Bill will bring hope, I cannot understand, even in English or Hindi, how it’s so,” he remarked, triggering laughter across the Lower House. Seizing the momentum, he continued his attack. “The party that claims to be the world’s largest couldn’t even choose its leader. What is the Bharatiya Janata Party, actually?”
Shah, unfazed, fired back. “Akhileshji made his remarks, triggering laughter, and let me reply in a similar vein. The national party chooses its chief from among five persons within a family, and for the last 50 years, you could not change the leader,” he said, taking a dig at dynastic politics. Defending the BJP’s process, he added, “In the BJP, 12-13 crore workers elect the president through a process, so it takes time. Akhilesh can be his party president for the next 25 years, and it won’t be a problem.”
The BJP, which secured another term in power with allies like the TDP and JD(U), is yet to officially appoint its national leader. Union Minister JP Nadda continues to hold the position, having first assumed the role as working president in 2019 before being unanimously elected as BJP national president in January 2020, succeeding Amit Shah.
Refusing to back down, Yadav invoked the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi last year. “Videos of the yatra circulating on social media show it’s not an expansion of 50 years,” he said, countering Shah’s argument. He then shifted his attack back to governance issues, slamming the BJP over demonetisation, unemployment, and river pollution.
“Leaders say the Bill was prepared over time… maybe they prepared it in due course. But they made an overnight decision to ban notes. Let us discuss demonetisation,” he said, linking the sudden policy shift to what he called the government’s mismanagement.
Yadav also equated the drafting of the Waqf Amendment Bill with what he termed the Centre’s repeated failures—citing its inability to tackle pollution in the Ganga and Yamuna rivers, rising unemployment, and growing poverty.
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BJP insiders point to internal party procedures for the delay in appointing a new chief. At least half of BJP’s state presidents—18 out of 36—must be in place before a national president can be elected. The process involves elections at booth, mandal, and district levels before the final selection is made. Though these posts are technically “elected,” the norm has been to reach a consensus on leadership appointments at every level, including for the national president.
Sources indicate that the party aimed to complete its state president appointments by January 15. However, with key states still awaiting decisions, the leadership vacuum continues, giving the Opposition fresh ammunition to target the ruling party.
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