00:00Joining us now is Ashok Malik, partner and chair of the Asia Group.
00:05Mr. Malik, you have also tracked BJP very, very closely.
00:09Here is a little-known Nitin Nabeen from Bihar who has been catapulted to the top job, top post of the BJP.
00:20As someone who has seen previous BJP chiefs in action, what do you see his roadmap likely will be?
00:30Look, yes, this is a generational shift for the BJP.
00:35Somebody from the 40s, the first president of the party born after the party was founded.
00:43That's right.
00:43My understanding is Mr. Nabeen was born in May 1980.
00:48The BJP was founded, of course, the Jansang existed earlier, but the BJP was founded in April 1980.
00:53April.
00:54So this is, it's a recognition that India is a much younger country, that the BJP is looking ahead.
01:00And I think the BJP deserves credit for that, for trying to undertake that generational shift.
01:06Of course, how well Nitin Nabeen does as president remains to be seen.
01:10Full marks to him, but full marks, full luck to him, but full marks for the BJP for also taking this decision.
01:17And look, the BJP has had many illustrious presidents, but not all of them have been, within double quotes, well-known in Delhi.
01:27And when you say a little known, Nitin Nabeen, you actually mean he's not known in the media circles, in the familiar political circles of Delhi.
01:34I think Indian politics, as has been demonstrated in the past 10 years, exists beyond Delhi.
01:41Let me give you one example from the past, from the BJP's past.
01:45The BJP completed a five-year term between 1999 and 2004.
01:49That was the first time the BJP completed a five-year term.
01:53Who was the party president when it won the 1999 election?
01:56Kushabao Thakre.
01:57Kushabao Thakre was a selfless worker for the BJP for decades.
02:02He was a very hardworking person, a party loyalist, one of those who practically built the party in the states of Madhya Pradesh and what is today Chathisgarh, a separate state.
02:15And he built that party from scratch virtually, village to village, mohalla to mohalla.
02:21He was a legend.
02:22But he was a legend within the party for party activists, for party loyalists.
02:26Yet, he wasn't, you know, well-known across the country in circles outside the party.
02:33Yet, he was hugely and deeply respected in the party.
02:37He was seen as an ideal president at a time when the party was moving from being in opposition to being in power.
02:46And he was a stabilizing factor as Atal Vihari Vajpayee, Lalkis Naradwani, Muldi Mahno Joshi, that generation moved into government.
02:55So, the BJP has not always had people who are within double quotes, well-known in media circles.
03:02The BJP has also rewarded party workers, ordinary party workers.
03:05And I see this as part of that tradition.
03:09You have made an interesting point, you know, because the Delhi has also changed.
03:13This is the new, new Delhi, as we say now, Ashok Malik.
03:16Very different from the Delhi of the UPA era.
03:20It functions differently.
03:23And here is Prime Minister Modi also sending a message that Delhi is beyond Delhi, that India is beyond Delhi,
03:30that, you know, he has been receiving heads of states in multiple states across the country, trying to showcase that.
03:36But do you see this, that the first set of tests, litmus test, as we are putting out those visuals for Nitin Nabeen as the party president will be upcoming polls?
03:48Or do you think it will not be really something that he will be judged on?
03:52Remember in 2014, because I have been tracking the party for several years now, sir, we saw in December of 2014, Home Minister Amit Shah became the BJP president.
04:03By then, he had had the experience also of General Secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh.
04:09Uttar Pradesh in 2014 gave a huge thumbs up to the BJP when Prime Minister Modi became the Prime Minister.
04:15At that time, he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
04:17We have not seen Nitin Nabeen occupy that kind of an important organizational responsibility as well.
04:24So, you really see that this will be the first set of litmus test or are you of the opinion that it's not going to be so easy for him?
04:32You know, he will be looking for newer territories. He will be given that task.
04:37Two things here.
04:38One, Nitin Nabeen, from what my understanding, has been an important part of election campaigns in his home state of Bihar.
04:46Yes, in Chhattisgarh.
04:49In Chhattisgarh, sorry, more recently. I must have told Madhya Pradesh too, but perhaps Chhattisgarh, perhaps you're right.
04:54But let's be fair to him. He has not been appointed president to be judged on elections that are coming in the next two months.
05:03I mean, if the BJP does not form a government in Kerala, and I don't expect it to, I don't think anybody does, I don't think the BJP does,
05:09it doesn't mean Nitin Nabeen has failed. I mean, that is not how he's going to be judged.
05:13I think his true test will be in how he revitalizes the party organization.
05:19You see, to be a ruling party at a time when much of your talent is in government is very difficult.
05:26It's a challenge. It's a challenge for the BJP. It was a challenge for the Congress when the Congress was in power.
05:31It's a challenge anyway.
05:32And to be the president of a party which is in power, where the entire focus is on the government and the talent that is going to government, is not easy.
05:42And that is where Nitin Nabeen's real test lies in how he can revitalize the party for the future, going ahead.
05:49So, I don't think you can judge him on, you know, the upcoming state elections.
05:54But yes, over a two, three-year period, he will be judged.
05:56And he'll be judged on many criteria, including how well the party does in state elections, especially in states where it is not strong.
06:04But he will also be judged in how he can energize the party.
06:08The party has become a little predictable, if I may say so.
06:12And again, there's a good reason for that.
06:13If you've been in power, if there's been a certain inertia, it has set in.
06:17So, how you can revitalize the party, what new ideas you can bring in from the grassroots, perhaps, because he's a grassroots worker.
06:24People will be looking out for that.
06:26All right, Ashok Mallik, thank you so much for joining us.
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