Is This the First Time in 25 Years That BJP Re-elects a Sitting Uttarakhand Unit Chief?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Mahendra Bhatt has been re-elected as Uttarakhand BJP president.
- First sitting president to be re-elected in 25 years.
- The election process is part of the preparations for a new National President.
- Strong party support was evident in Bhatt's unopposed nomination.
- New state presidents are expected to be announced soon.
Dehradun, July 1 (NationPress) In an unprecedented move, BJP Rajya Sabha MP and incumbent Uttarakhand party president Mahendra Bhatt has been re-elected unopposed, marking a significant event in the party's history, a senior party leader revealed.
At the age of 53, Bhatt becomes the first sitting BJP Uttarakhand president to secure a consecutive term in a quarter century, according to a party official.
Previously, he served as the representative for the Badrinath Assembly from 2017 to 2022 and for Nandaprayag from 2002 to 2007.
The announcement regarding Bhatt's re-election was made by Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Harsh Malhotra, who was appointed as the central election officer by the national leadership to supervise the organizational election process.
His re-election was disclosed in the presence of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Additionally, candidates for the National Council Member from the state are set to be announced, with nomination papers submitted on Monday by notable figures such as Ajay Tamta, Dhan Singh Rawat, former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, Tirath Singh Rawat, Trivendra Singh Rawat, Rajya Sabha MP Kalpana Saini, and Lok Sabha MPs Mala Rajyalakshmi Shah and Ajay Bhatt.
On Monday, Bhatt submitted his nomination papers, delivering them to state election officer Khajan Das.
He was the only party leader to submit nominations for the top post in the presence of CM Dhami and state BJP in charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam.
Das reported that Bhatt filed five sets of nomination papers with endorsements from 10 different party leaders.
The ongoing BJP organizational elections in various states serve as a precursor to the highly anticipated process of selecting a new National President.
As per the party’s constitution, the election process for a successor to the current National President J.P. Nadda can initiate only after presidents in a minimum of 19 out of 37 organizational states are elected.
This threshold is expected to be achieved on Tuesday, as single nominations were submitted in states like Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh on Monday.
The announcement of new state presidents in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh is also anticipated in the upcoming days.
On Monday, V.P. Ramalingam and K. Beichhua were elected as the BJP presidents of Puducherry and Mizoram, respectively.