New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday decided to defer its organisational elections to pave the way for Amit Shah to continue as President until the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Shah’s term was scheduled to end in January 2019 but the decision to extend his tenure was taken at party’s national executive today.

Amit Shah will lead the party in the Lok Sabha election in 2019 as the organisational polls are likely to be suspended till then as party focuses on the electoral challenge ahead.

Sources said that the issue was discussed at the meeting of office bearers, state BJP chiefs and General Secretary of states under the chairmanship of Shah. The office bearers meeting takes place before inauguration of the National Executive to set its agenda.

A party leader said organisational polls in an election year have often been deferred in the past as well to allow the incumbent president, his team of office-bearers and workers to focus fully on polls.

BJP President can serve for 2 consecutive terms

Shah had replaced Rajnath Singh as the party president soon after it came to power in May 2014 as Singh quit his post following his inclusion in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet. He was then elected as the party president in January 2016.

The BJP’s constitution allows its president to serve two consecutive full terms of three years each. As such, Shah can be elected to the post for one more term.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Shah was incharge of Uttar Pradesh where the BJP won 73 out of total 80 seats. After Rajnath Singh became Home Minister in the Narendra Modi government, Shah was appointed BJP President in July 2014.

Shah to kick off campaign in Telangana

Meanwhile, the party chief Amit Shah is set to kick off party’s campaign for Telangana assembly polls with a public meeting at Mahabubnagar on September 15.

The BJP would be organising public meetings in each assembly segment and the party would have not only state manifesto but also ‘local manifestos’.

BJP’s Telangana unit president K Laxman has already said the party would go it alone in the coming assembly polls.

Legislative Assembly polls in Telangana were originally scheduled to take place simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year.

However, the state assembly has been dissolved this week as per a recommendation by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti government which necessitated elections ahead of schedule.

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