Amit Shah's term as BJP President ended yesterday but this time, he will be elected for a full three-year term.
Celebrations rang out in the BJP today long before Amit Shah was re-elected the party's president in the presence of a large gathering of leaders.
BJP seniors LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were noticeably missing when Mr Shah was elected unchallenged in a process widely seen as a formality.
"There was no other nomination because there was a consensus in the party," Home Minister Rajnath Singh told reporters, refusing to comment on Mr Advani and Mr Joshi's absence.
Mr Shah will call on Mr Advani and Mr Joshi to seek their blessings, the party said. He will also visit former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. All three veterans were assigned to the Margdarshak Mandal or mentors' group after Mr Shah took charge the first time.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations to Mr Shah, whose re-election sets the stage for a number of big decisions by the party and the government, including an expected cabinet reshuffle.This is Mr Shah's first full term. The 51-year-old, seen as a close confidante of PM Modi, took charge as BJP chief in July 2014, midway during the tenure of Rajnath Singh who joined the government as Home Minister.
Sources say as the party focuses on polls ahead, the Prime Minister is expected to rejig his council of ministers once Amit Shah's team is ready.
Led by Mr Shah, the BJP will soon plunge into its campaign for polls in five states this year. During Mr Shah's previous term, the party came to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir, but also suffered defeats in the Delhi and Bihar polls.
"He has organized good strategies...Under him the party has become a force to reckon with even in places we were not strong," said union minister Venkaiah Naidu.
Among the states going to polls later this year are Assam, West Bengal and Kerala, where the party has never been a significant presence.
Mr Shah is set to lead PM Modi's 2019 national campaign and also the mega battle in Uttar Pradesh in 2017. In the 2014 national election, the BJP won 72 of the state's 80 parliamentary seats, but has lost ground ever since in local body elections and by-polls.