National President of theBharatiya Janata Party
Incumbent Nitin Nabin since 20 January 2026
Type	Political Party Head
Reports to	National Council of Bharatiya Janata Party
Residence	New Delhi
Seat	6-A, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg,New Delhi
Appointer	Committee consisting of party members from theNational andState Executives
Term length	Three years (No more than two consecutive terms)
Constituting instrument	Constitution of the Bharatiya Janata Party
Formation	6 April 1980
First holder	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Website	www.bjp.org

TheNational President of the Bharatiya Janata Party is the chief executive authority of theBJP, and fills a number of roles, including chairing meetings of theNational Executive of the party and appointing the presidents of party subsidiaries, such itsyouth wing and farmer's wing.^[1] Any candidate for the presidency needs to have been a member of the party for at least 15 years.^[2] The president is nominally elected by an electoral college composed of members drawn from the party's National and State councils, but in practice is a consensus choice of senior members of the party.^[1] The term of the president is three years long, and individuals may not serve more than two consecutive terms.^[2] The president usually does not also hold a post within a government, and party chiefs have resigned the position to assume posts in Cabinet.^[3]

After the party's foundation in 1980,Atal Bihari Vajpayee became its first president. He later became theprime minister of India, the only BJP president to serve in that position to date. In 1986,Lal Krishna Advani was sworn in as the party president and has been the longest serving president over three different periods.^[4][5] As of 2025,^[update] 12 people have served as the president of the BJP, includingRajnath Singh andAmit Shah who have also served two terms.Nitin Nabin is the incumbent president, having been appointed on 20 January 2026.^[6][7]

S. No.	Term	Portrait	Name	State	References
1	1980–1986		Atal Bihari Vajpayee	Madhya Pradesh	[4] [8] [9] [10]
	Vajpayee became the first president of the BJP upon its formation in 1980. Under him the BJP projected itself as a centrist party that had moved away from the strident politics of theBJS. Vajpayee, often seen as the moderate face of the BJP, later became the firstPrime Minister of India not from theIndian National Congress to serve a full term.
2	1986–1991		L. K. Advani	Gujarat	[4] [8] [11] [12] [13]
	Advani succeededAtal Bihari Vajpayee as president in 1986, an event usually associated with a shift in the BJP's ideology towards hardlineHindutva, exemplified by theRam Rath Yatra led by Advani in 1990 as part of an effort to generate electoral support by appealing toHindu nationalism. He had served as the president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1973.
3	1991–1993		Murli Manohar Joshi	Uttarakhand	[12] [14] [15] [16]
	BJP ideologue Joshi had been affiliated with theRSS nearly fifty years before he became BJP president in 1991. As with his predecessorL. K. Advani, he played a large role in theRam Janmabhoomi agitation. He later served as a cabinet minister in the governments headed byAtal Bihari Vajpayee. During his presidency, the BJP became the principal opposition party for the first time.
(2)	1993–1998		L. K. Advani	Gujarat	[12] [16]
	Advani had been a member of the RSS for fifty years when he took office for the second time. His aggressive campaigning helped the BJP became the largest party in thelower house of the Indian Parliament after elections in 1996. ThoughAtal Bihari Vajpayee became Prime Minister, Advani was seen as the power within the party, and later served asDeputy Prime Minister.
4	1998–2000		Kushabhau Thakre	Madhya Pradesh	[11] [17] [18] [19]
	Thakre had been associated with the RSS since 1942. He was not well known outside the BJP when he became the president in 1998, a few months after the BJP-ledNDA government took office. During his tenure the BJP reduced its emphasis onHindutva, such as its demand for abrogatingArticle 370 of the Indian constitution, to accommodate the views of a large coalition.
5	2000–2001		Bangaru Laxman	Telangana	[20] [21]
	Laxman, an RSS member of long standing, became the firstDalit president of the BJP in 2000. A year later asting operation byTehelka magazine showed him accepting a bribe, after which Laxman resigned immediately. He remained on the party's National Executive until 2012, when he was convicted for corruption and resigned.
–	2001–2002		Jana Krishnamurthi(acting)	Tamil Nadu	[21] [22] [23] [24]
	Krishnamurthi became acting president upon the resignation of Laxman, and was confirmed as president by the National Executive shortly afterwards. He resigned a year later when he became a minister in the central government underAtal Bihari Vajpayee as part of a cabinet reshuffle.
6	2002–2004		Venkaiah Naidu	Andhra Pradesh	[25] [24]
	Naidu was elected BJP president afterJana Krishnamurthi was drafted into the Cabinet. His election was seen by commentators as an example ofL. K. Advani and the orthodox Hindu-nationalist wing of the party re-asserting control. Though elected to a full term, Naidu resigned after theNDA lost the2004 Indian general election to theUPA led by the Indian National Congress. He later became theVice President of India in 2017.
(2)	2004–2005		L. K. Advani	Gujarat	[12] [25] [26] [27] [28]
	Advani, then serving as theleader of the opposition in theLok Sabha, became BJP president for the third time afterVenkaiah Naidu resigned after the2004 Indian general election. Advani continued to hold his position as leader of the opposition. Advani resigned as president in 2005, after his description ofMuhammad Ali Jinnah as a secular leader caused controversy.
7	2005–2009		Rajnath Singh	Uttar Pradesh	[12] [28] [29] [30] [31]
	Singh took office as BJP president in December 2005 for the remainder of Advani's term. He was reappointed for a full term in 2006. Singh had held many positions for the RSS and the BJP, including serving as theChief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the president of the BJP'syouth wing. He advocated a return to aHindutva platform. Singh resigned after the NDA lost the2009 Indian general election
8	2009–2013		Nitin Gadkari	Maharashtra	[12] [31] [32]
	Gadkari became the youngest president of the BJP in 2009. A longtime RSS member, he had served as a minister in a coalition government inMaharashtra and as president of the BJP youth wing. He had strong support from the RSS leadership. Gadkari resigned in 2013 after a scandal related to his time as a minister and other allegations of financial impropriety.
(7)	2013–2014		Rajnath Singh	Uttar Pradesh	[12] [31] [33]
	Singh was elected president for his second term after Gadkari stepped down in 2013. Singh played a large role in the BJP's campaign for the2014 Indian general election, including declaringNarendra Modi the party's Prime Ministerial candidate despite opposition from within the BJP. After the party's landslide victory, Singh resigned the party presidency to assume the position of Home Minister.
9	2014–2020		Amit Shah	Gujarat	[34] [3] [35]
	Shah, a close confidant of Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, became BJP president for the remainder ofRajnath Singh's term after the latter joinedFirst Modi cabinet. Commentators described Shah's appointment as demonstrating Modi's control over the BJP. Shah was re-elected for a full three-year term in 2016.
10	2020–2026		Jagat Prakash Nadda	Himachal Pradesh	[36] [6] [37]
	A long-time associate of the RSS, Nadda was involved with the ABVP in college, and rose through the ranks of the BJP youth wing. He was elected a member of the legislative assembly inHimachal Pradesh, and later held a ministership in the NDA-led Indian government from 1998 to 2003. He was elected "working president" of the BJP in 2019, and shared the responsibility of running the party with Amit Shah for a year before being elected president.
11	2026–present		Nitin Nabin	Bihar	[38]
	A long-time associate of the BJP, Nabin has held several organisational positions within the BJP. He has served as National General Secretary of theBharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and State President of BJYM Bihar. He was elected a member of the legislative assembly inBihar from 2006, and later held a ministership in the NDA-led Bihar government from 2021. He was elected "working president" of the BJP in December 2025, and shared the responsibility of running the party with J. P. Nadda for a month before being elected president.

S. No.	Portrait	Name	Term in office			Ref.
1		Jagat Prakash Nadda	17 June 2019	20 January 2020	217 days	[39]
2		Nitin Nabin	14 December 2025	20 January 2026	36 days	[39][40]

• Jana Krishnamurthi: 14 Mar 2001 – 24 Mar 2001 (Acting National President)

• List of state presidents of the Bharatiya Janata Party
• List of national presidents of the Indian National Congress
• List of leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
• Leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Parliament of India
• List of general secretaries of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

• Guha, Ramachandra (2007).India after Gandhi: the history of the world's largest democracy (1st ed.). Picador.ISBN 978-0-330-39610-3.
• Hansen, Thomas Blom (23 March 1999).The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India. Princeton University Press.ISBN 978-1-4008-2305-5.
• Swain, Pratap Chandra (2001).Bharatiya Janata Party: Profile and Performance. APH Publishing.ISBN 978-81-7648-257-8.

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