A video from Narendra Modi’s early years in politics comes to mind. In the footage, Atal Bihari Vajpayee can be seen embracing the young Modi with genuine fatherly affection. That footage, marked by close personal warmth between the two leaders, clearly conveyed multiple messages. It suggested that the man whom the veteran leader was holding within his protective embrace was still young and a promising party worker. In Vajpayee’s eyes, Modi was capable of assuming the reins of the party, in future at any organizational level, with his functional acumen.
Vajpayee’s stature within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was unquestionably commanding, and there was not even the slightest hint of dissent that anyone in the party dared to express openly against him. His statesmanship was strong enough to bind leaders in the BJP and beyond, spanning generations, from his own age to that of Modi. This rare intergenerational blend has consistently shaped leadership dynamics in the saffron party, a distinction that hardly any political party in India can truly parallel.
Modi was a party worker from the grassroots, and the warmth and care that Vajpayee had transmitted in the footage were self-revealing for a viewer. It undoubtedly told us that, beyond the personal bond, the relationship between the leaders was fundamentally rooted in an ideological upbringing, a selfless affinity, and a legacy that the BJP is seen to be characteristically passing on through generations.
Youth means the age of ascent, the spring season of life. That comes with energy, aspirations, and commitment. Any organization, for that matter, should meticulously learn the art of tapping this ideological inheritance carried across generations. This can happen through an institutional memory that clearly asserts the need to protect a political lineage, not one cemented by dynastic affiliations, but by ideological moorings. A system to ensure its functional continuum, especially in politics, requires camaraderie that steps beyond individual interests and avoids disrupting its cordial functional synthesis.
This ideological inevitability was reflected in the elevation of Nitin Nabin. It was not a mere ascendancy, but one executed with careful calculation. A generational shift is a pragmatic strategy, adopted only by parties and institutions that look beyond the immediate. Without such foresight, access to success remains peripheral and shallow, as the organizational machine deteriorates in the absence of effective maintenance. Its renewability depends on the timing and innovation with which the maintenance is carried out.
For a political party, the objective is not merely winning elections; its strategy must extend beyond the immediate horizon. The Bharatiya Janata Party, so far, has been able to build a galaxy of young leaders across states. It believes that the mantle of political legacy must pass on; this is how continuity is ensured.
The Prime Minister, through his unequivocal gesture of deference to the party system, referred to the BJP’s new president as his “boss.” While it is common knowledge that within the BJP it is Narendra Modi who holds the reins, this deliberate display of cordiality and discipline set a powerful organizational precedent. It signaled strict disapproval of resistance, if any, and reaffirmed the supremacy of institutional order over individual authority within the party.
A generational shift is a new chapter, destined to turn fresh pages of success through coalitions in the present political scenario. It needs to strategize new tactics and equations, wherever the party can emerge as a power contender through the ballot. A transition does not essentially reflect a mere change of face; it signals a deeper tactical realignment as well. With a new generation comes new tactics, and with them, a new political facelift.
Nitin Nabin represents a generation born after the birth of the BJP. From 1980, when the party remained a political pariah, to its present colossal form, the legacy of leadership-making has been meticulously chiseled out of its ideological framework. A five-term legislator, the young boss of the BJP brings with him a substantial reservoir of organizational expertise.
How does this shift in leadership of the ruling party impact the current political scenario? It is a message deeply intended to address the youth population of India, which comprises nearly 40 percent of the eligible electorate. I firmly believe that, irrespective of its present monumental success across the country, the BJP is conscious of the equally monumental disillusionment its ruling regimes can generate among voters over time. Even its most popular face, Narendra Modi’s effulgence as a force-multiplier, could eventually fade into insignificance.
An ornamental hallucination built around a single personality would not be able to satisfy the aspirations of upcoming generations for a long period. Much like Bollywood stars of yesteryears who have lost their sheen, while a newer generation, with its sculpted physiques and contemporary romantic idioms, began sending waves of excitement across the silver screens; time inevitably draws its Lakshman Rekha around everyone. Modi understands this. Elevation of Nitin Nabin is the outcome of a plan that underscores a phase for BJP beyond Modi.
The shift is again an evolution shaped by society’s evolving requirements. This does not necessarily imply that the entire power structure or administrative priority will be decided by the youth alone. The BJP, in particular, has evolved through frequent intergenerational transitions, with its founding generation striving relentlessly for expansion.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L. K. Advani, and Murali Manohar Joshi represented this profound founding succession of the BJP, shaped by its Jan Sangh legacy. The trio unwaveringly built a second rung of leadership, bringing to the forefront figures such as Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Pramod Mahajan, Narendra Modi, and Amit Shah. From this lineage emerged the next generation, a galaxy of leaders including Yogi Adityanath, Rekha Gupta, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Devendra Fadnavis.
This institutional alignment, achieved through the systematic cultivation of successive generations of leadership, gives the saffron camp considerable confidence. Nitin Nabin, yet again, is younger than many of these third-generation leaders. The constellation of party leaders orbiting the phenomenal personality of the Prime Minister is extensive. What unequivocally signals the arrival of a younger version of the BJP, capable of navigating new coalition equations while simultaneously building the futuristic prospects as a party, is this very agenda of a calibrated transition, which now stands at the centre of political discourse.
