Silently, almost unnoticed, a low-profile woman leader is set to take on the crucial role of BJP’s national president. The top leadership of the saffron party is expected to make this decision soon. In the country’s largest political party, key leadership positions are not given to those who already hold significant government roles. The current BJP national president, J.P. Nadda, is also a Union Minister. Until a new president is elected, he will continue in his role. However, much like Amit Shah relinquished his party presidency after taking over as Home Minister, Nadda, too, will soon step down from the position.
It is a well-known fact that regardless of who holds the BJP president’s post, no major decision can be made without the approval of Amit Shah and, ultimately, Narendra Modi. Initially, Nadda’s term was extended until the Lok Sabha elections, but since then, multiple state assembly elections have already taken place. Now, the time has come to elect a new president. But who will be the next chief of the ruling party at the Centre—someone who also enjoys the trust of Modi and Shah?
A strong buzz in the power corridors of Delhi suggests that, for the first time, the BJP is likely to appoint a woman leader as its national president. However, unlike Sushma Swaraj or the current Union Minister Smriti Irani, she is not a well-known face across the country. Nor is she a rebel leader like Uma Bharti, who was once aligned with the Advani camp. So, who is this woman leader within the BJP who might emerge as Modi and Shah’s preferred choice? Until she was nominated as a presidential candidate, even Droupadi Murmu was relatively unknown in national politics and had no mass following. Similarly, discussions are now gaining momentum around a largely unfamiliar or lesser-known woman leader who might soon lead the country’s largest political party. Her name is already circulating in BJP headquarters at Deendayal Marg in New Delhi, and the political world is awaiting this significant twist from the saffron party.
Since no woman has ever held the top leadership position in BJP—unlike Sonia Gandhi in Congress—there is skepticism about whether this will actually happen. However, unless there is a last-minute surprise, Haryana’s Sudha Yadav could become the BJP’s first female president. Her political rise began under Narendra Modi’s mentorship in 1999. She is not widely known in national politics, not even within the party ranks. An IIT Roorkee postgraduate in Chemistry and a doctorate from the same prestigious institution, Sudha Yadav is currently the only female member of BJP’s highest organizational body, the Parliamentary Board. She was given this position in 2022 after Modi’s close associates, Nitin Gadkari and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, were removed. Before her, the only other woman to have held a position in this board was Sushma Swaraj. Sudha Yadav is also a member of BJP’s National Election Committee, yet she remains relatively unknown among state-level BJP leaders.
But this is exactly where BJP’s charisma lies—bringing unknown figures into top positions. Today, it is difficult to recall the names of all BJP chief ministers in one go. That does not mean that there were no prominent candidates available when these CMs were appointed. Even Yogi Adityanath, despite being an MP, was not a household name until he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Now, similar discussions are taking place within a small circle of BJP leaders in Delhi about Sudha Yadav’s sudden rise.
In 1999, it was Narendra Modi, then the BJP observer for Haryana, who fielded Sudha Yadav as a candidate from the Mahendragarh constituency. Contesting her first election, she defeated heavyweight opponent Rao Inderjit Singh by a margin of 1.39 lakh votes and became an MP. After Modi became Prime Minister, she was appointed as the national in-charge of BJP’s OBC Morcha in 2015. From there, her organizational journey gained momentum, and the top leadership began grooming her for a bigger role.
Speculation about her appointment intensified after Prime Minister Modi attended her son Siddharth’s wedding on March 1. Modi’s presence at the wedding is seen as a significant indicator of her growing importance. BJP’s top leadership is considering her name from multiple perspectives—OBC vote bank, women’s empowerment, and the crucial Yadav voter base in Bihar. This is part of the party’s social engineering strategy, sending a strong and calculated political message—not just about women’s empowerment but also about consolidating the Yadav vote.
Sudha Yadav, the wife of Kargil War martyr Deputy Commandant Sukhbir Singh Yadav, is on the verge of being elevated to the BJP’s top position at any moment. With all the political equations aligning perfectly, the only thing left is the final nod from Modi and Shah.