Bharatiya Janata Party is a major political party in India and is currently the ruling party of the country. The party was formed on April 6 1980 by veteran politicians Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani. Many prominent political leaders have since then served as the president of the party since its formation. Other than Vajpayee and Advani, politicians like Venkaiah Naidu, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, etc have acted as the president of the party and their efforts have established BJP as a strong political party. The article here presents a list of all presidents of the Bharatiya Janata Party (1980-2023).
List of All Presidents of the BJP from 1980 to 2023
When BJP formed in 1980, its founder Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the first president of the party and the first BJP leader to become India’s prime minister. Check out the list of all presidents of the Bharatiya Janata Party from 1980 to 2023 along with their tenure and the state.
1. Atal Bihari Vajpayee
- Tenure: 1980–1986
- State: Madhya Pradesh
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an Indian politician who founded the Bharatiya Janata Party and was one of the senior most leaders of the party. He served three terms as the prime minister of India, first for 13 days in 1996, then for 13 months from 1998 to 1999 and finally a full term from 1999 to 2004. Vajpayee was the first Indian prime minister outside the Indian National Congress party. A member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vajpayee was one of most loved PMs of the country.
2. Lal Krishna Advani
- Tenure: 1986-1991
- State: Gujarat
Lal Krishna Advani is an Indian politician and co-founder of the current ruling party of India, Bharatiya Janata Party. He was also a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and is considered architect of hindutva politics. Advani served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004 and Minister of Home Affairs of India from 1998 to 2004. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the 10th Lok Sabha and 14th Lok Sabha and also the longest serving person of this post.
3. Murli Manohar Joshi
- Tenure: 1991-1993
- State: Uttar Pradesh
Murli Manohar Joshi is an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for which he acted as a president from 1991 to 1993. A former Member of Parliament for Kanpur parliamentary constituency, Joshi has served as the Union Human Resources Development minister of the country. He has been awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award in 2017.
4. Lal Krishna Advani
- Tenure: 1993-1998
- State: Gujarat
Check: List of all Presidents of Indian National Congress
5. Kushabhau Thakre
- Tenure: 1998–2000
- State: Madhya Pradesh
Kushabhau Thakre was the elected the president of Bhartiya Janata Party in 1998 and held that position till 2000. He has been with the party since its formation in 1980 and acted as a Secretary and in charge of Gujarat, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Thakre managed the party offices as national General Secretary, Vice-President or “in-charge” of a particular state.
6. Bangaru Laxman
- Tenure: 2000-2001
- State: Telangana
Bangaru Laxman was an Indian politician and a member of major Indian political party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Bangaru was a minister of state for railways in Government of India from 1999 to 2000 and took the position of party’s president right after that. He stepped down from the post in 2001. Bangaru was also sentenced to four years in jail in a corruption case.
7. Jana Krishnamurthi
- Tenure: 2001-2002
- State: Tamil Nadu
Jana Krishnamurthi was the seventh president of the BJP who held the office for a tenure of one year, from 2001 to 2002. Krishnamurthi had been with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since 1940 when he was just 12 years old. Krishnamurthi also served as Union Law Minister and a member of the Parliament of India and became only the second person from Tamil Nadu to do so.
8. Venkaiah Naidu
- Tenure: 2002-2004
- State: Andhra Pradesh
Another prominent figure who acted as a president to the Bhartiya Janata Party was Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu. Naidu also served as the 13th vice president of India from 2017 to 2022 and has recently been succeeded by Jagdeep Dhankar. He is the first Indian vice president born in independent India and has also served as the minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Urban Development and Information and Broadcasting in the current government.
9. Lal Krishna Advani
- Tenure: 2004-2005
- State: Gujarat
10. Rajnath Singh
- Tenure: 2005-2009
- State: Uttar Pradesh
Rajnath Singh is the Minister of Defence of India and former president of Bharatiya Janata Party for two terms, 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2014. He has previously served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Cabinet Minister of India and Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Agriculture of the country.
11. Nitin Gadkari
- Tenure: 2009-2013
- State: Maharshtra
Nitin Gadkari is another prominent figure in Indian politics who is currently the Minister for Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India. He has acted as the president of BJP for a period of 4 years from 2009 to 2013. Gadkari is well-known and acclaimed for his work as the Public Works Department Minister of the State of Maharashtra.
12. Rajnath Singh
- Tenure: 2013-2014
- State: Uttar Pradesh
13. Amit Shah
Amit Shah is a former president of BJP and current Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Co-operation of India. Shah became the youngest serving full-time Home Minister when he took the oath at the age of 54 years. He is also the chief strategist of the party and a close aide to India’ PM Narendra Modi.
- Tenure: 2014-2020
- State: Gujarat
14. Jagat Prakash Nadda
- Tenure: 2020-incumbent
- State:
Jagat Prakash Nadda was a working president of Bharatiya Janata Party till 2020 and became president of the party in January 2020. Before becoming the National Party President of the BJP, Nadda has served as former Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, member of Rajya Sabha from Himachal Pradesh and Parliamentary Board Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party.
