India’s Ruling Party Picks New President as Challenges Mount

Jagat Prakash Nadda (C), newly elected President of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), gestures after taking charge as the president during a ceremony at the party's headquarters in New Delhi, India, on Jan. 20, 2020. Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters

NEW DELHI—India’s Hindu nationalist ruling party on Monday elevated a veteran lawmaker and long-time associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to become its president ahead of a string of state elections.

Jagat Prakash Nadda, who rose through the ranks after cutting his teeth as a student leader in the 1970s, will become the new president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), replacing Amit Shah, currently India’s Home Minister.