NEW DELHI: In his maiden address after taking over as BJP national president, Nitin Nabin on Tuesday asked party workers to mount a fight to “protect” the centres and legacy of Sanatan faith, saying political parties opposed to ‘deepam’ tradition in Madurai or existence of Ram Setu should have no space in politics.Nabin, whose elevation at 45 years of age is being seen as a generational shift in BJP, called Prime Minister Narendra Modi an inspiration and urged the youth to heed his call for joining active politics by saying “keeping a distance is no solution”. Youth should treat politics as a marathon and not a 100-metre sprint and prioritise stamina over speed, he said, adding that BJP’s “watch tower” is vigilant enough to identify their talent.Nabin’s unopposed election as the 12th BJP president was announced at a function at the party headquarters in New Delhi in the presence of PM Modi and several former party chiefs, including JP Nadda, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari.Shah congratulated Nabin, expressing confidence that his tenure as BJP president under Modi’s guidance will infuse new energy and speed in the party’s dedicated work towards national interest and people’s welfare. The fifth-term MLA and first person from Bihar to head BJP’s organisation ticked off the party’s twin planks of Hindutva and nationalism in his inaugural address, which will be pored over by its rank and file, a large number of whom might not have heard much of him before he was appointed BJP working president last month.DMK’s strident opposition to bid by Hindu groups to light a ‘deepam’ at a hilltop considered sacred by them was seized by BJP to mount a political challenge as the state heads to assembly polls.Nabin also flagged the decision by DMK and its allies to move a motion for removal of Madras high court Judge GR Swaminathan, who had decided in favour of Hindu groups, to target the parties. A division bench had later rejected state govt’s challenge to the verdict. He also voiced the party’s concerns over infiltration, which is a key part of its agenda in poll-bound Bengal and Assam.
