Large sections of the media today have become so accustomed to official handouts and briefings that they do not feel the need for any investigation on their own to find out the veracity of facts. The latest is the appointment of the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Nitin Nabin. As per the official line, Nabin was chosen for the plum posting because he made some remarkable contributions towards the BJP’s win at the last elections in Chattisgarh. 

The official communique conveniently ignores the fact that the new BJP chief is a Kayasth, a caste that has now been practically obliterated in the political landscape. Till the late 1980’s, the Kayasths were very important in the heartland of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The political scenario later was dominated by other castes, which have been termed as backward castes and OBCs.

The Kayasthas, primarily ‘babus’ in the mammoth government establishments, however, are still omnipresent in the bureaucracy, in the role of advisers to ‘netas’ in decision-making as well as implementation. Thus, the hold of netas is aided by the bureaucracy. With the advent of reservations in government jobs, this hold is also being reduced, but Kayasths are important, even today, in aiding decision making by netas. 

It is perhaps the Kayasth profile of Nabin which prompted Narendra Modi’s political strategy of having someone young who could be moulded, in a bureaucratic manner, to implement the prime minister’s policies for the party. It is noteworthy to mention that Nabin was born a month after the BJP came into official existence in April 1980. He inherited his political legacy from his father Navin Kishore Prasad Sinha, a four-time MLA from Patna West. 

There is great personal chemistry between Nabin and Modi, reflected by the fact that Modi referred himself as a party worker going further to say that Nabin was his boss (headlined by frontline newspapers). Nitish Kumar has now consolidated the Most Backward Castes, and his model depends on the rise and consolidation of this grouping.

Political analysts aver that Modi wants to cut Nitish to size by promoting the young Nabin who could be groomed as an indirect threat to Nitish. Nabin has, however, been appointed as the all-India BJP chief. This would be a signal to Nitish that Nabin may not be used to target the former. 

Also read: Political Dynast Nitin Nabin Takes Charge as BJP President, Calls Himself ‘Ordinary Worker’

The appointment of Nabin could also be in line with the thinking of Modi to promote rank juniors in very important positions. A good example of this is railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav who also holds charge of information and broadcasting, as well as electronics and information technology. The way he was projected at the World Economic Forum at Davos gave out the impression that he was the super minister in charge of economic affairs. One does not know how Modi’s attention was drawn to Vaishnav, who was an IAS officer from Odisha of the 1995 batch. But in 2021, the Rajasthan-bred Vaishnav, largely unknown in Odisha, was appointed as the cabinet minister in charge of railways in the Union government.

The most important appointment in recent times, of a non-entity by Modi was the new chief minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel (little-known and merely a second term MLA) in 2021. Modi appointed him as the chief minister because there was pressure on him to anoint a Patel. A Patel was a Patel, unknown though he was. Patel was kept under control by Modi through his key officers in the chief minister’s office most of whom were known closely by Modi.

In 2025, a Jain from Surat, Harish Sanghvi was appointed as deputy chief minister. Sanghvi was given full charge of the home ministry with cabinet status, compared with a decade and a half earlier when Amit Shah was the home minister of Gujarat with only minister of state rank.

The anointment of Jain was effected by Modi because he had full confidence in Bhupendra Patel to not upset the applecart. It is also important to note that Surat, an industrial hub, could bring in the required investments with Sanghvi in power. 

Ultimately, it remains to be seen how Nabin fares as a party president, especially in consolidating the party’s outreach in the southern states and in countering Mamata Banerjee’s support base in West Bengal. It is also being speculated that Modi might later appoint a second joint president of the BJP. Time will only tell, but the generational shift in the BJP’s organisation is decidedly firm. 

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