Is Amit Shah the frontrunner for BJP president`s post?

Amit Shah is being considered to be named as president of BJP after Rajnath Singh`s appointment as the Home Minister.

Zee Media Bureau/Himanshu Kapoor

New Delhi: Narendra Modi`s close aide Amit Shah, who scripted Bharatiya Janata Party`s astounding win Uttar Pradesh where the party won 73 out of 80 seats in the recently concluded General Elections, is being considered to be named as president of BJP after Rajnath Singh`s appointment as the Home Minister. Sources said that the other names that are doing rounds for party`s presidentship are J P Nadda, a state unit leader of the BJP from Himachal Pradesh and party leader Om Mathur. Earlier in the day, Rajnath met with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and sangh leader Suresh Soni. According to reports, the deliberations between the trio was on the issue of the next BJP president. The BJP and RSS are facing a daunting task to elect the next party president, especially after Rajnath`s eventful stint, the sources said that Nadda is the newly appointed Home Minister`s choice, however, is track record in Himachal Pradesh, where he was asked to leave by the local leadership, may prove as an obstacle for him. Another BJP leader Om Mathur is also being seen as the frontrunner for the post of the party president and in his favour is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources say. Nadda and Mathur, in comparison with Shah, are low-profile candidate. And after handling Modi`s campaign in UP successfully, Shah is also seen as the most sought after BJP leader in Maharashtra where Assembly elections are due later this year. Though Nadda is seen as the favoured candidate for the vacant post in the BJP, but there are speculations that Shah`s name may be drafted as president of the party to replicate the BJP`s resounding victory in Uttar Pradesh in other parts of the country. Will Amit Shah be rewarded having won rich praise for his work in UP remains to be seen.