NEW DELHI:
Rajnath Singh was unanimously elected president of
BJP on Wednesday, capping last minute dramatic turn of events which saw
Nitin Gadkari being forced out of the race for the second term.
The 61-year-old senior party leader from Uttar Pradesh takes the baton
back from Nitin Gadkari whom he handed over the post in 2009.
Singh, who emerged as the consensus candidate on Tuesday night after
Gadkari dramatically opted out of the race for a second term, was the
only candidate to file the nominations and was declared elected
unopposed.
Gadkari was among the first ones to wish the new
party president soon after the announcement by election officer Thawar
Chand Gehlot in the presence of top party leaders including L K Advani,
Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu.
Gadkari, whose
candidature was being pushed strongly by RSS, suddenly quit the race in
the midst of allegations of impropriety by his company Purti Group.
After taking over, Rajnath Singh said, "I accept this not as a post,
but as a responsibility" and said he would take the battle to a decisive
end by bringing BJP to power.
He said he was taking over in
not very conducive conditions in the wake of allegations levelled
against the outgoing chief Nitin Gadkari.
Singh said though the
party wanted Gadkari to continue as party president for a second term,
but he took a moral high by deciding not to contest for a second term
till his name was cleared of all charges.
The new chief exuded
confidence of steering the party in the forthcoming assembly elections
in various states later this year and expressed the hope to see
formation of an NDA regime led by BJP in the next general elections.
"I firmly believe that the NDA will form the government in 2014," said
Singh, adding that only BJP can tackle the country's problems and people
expected it to rid the country of its troubles.
Congratulating
Gadkari for frustrating the party's political opponents, BJP veteran L K
Advani said, "Rajnath Singh's biggest responsibility will be to ensure
that there is no compromise with any immoral act in BJP."
He
said Singh has power to bring people together and hoped the party will
resolve to win lost ground in Uttar Pradesh, from where he hails.
Advani said Singh has focussed on agricultural issues and farmers and
exuded confidence that he will take the party forward on these
principles.
He also said that the party was considered an urban
party, but the results have proved otherwise. "For years we have never
got success in urban areas as we have won in rural areas," he said,
citing the example of Madhya Pradesh which has seen the highest growth
in agriculture sector.
Rajnath Singh earlier condemned home
minister Sushilkumar Shinde's Hindu terror remarks, which he termed as
"irresponsible" and said it indicated the party in power was not serious
about its fight against terrorism.
The new BJP chief charged Congress with trying to divide the nation on communal lines and said it did only vote-bank politics.
Noting that the circumstances in which he took over to lead the party
were not "conducive", he said BJP will stand behind Gadkari in his fight
to clear his name of all charges.
The new BJP chief said the
country was going through troubled times and blamed the Congress for it,
as it had ruled the nation for a maximum period, even as he charged the
ruling party with being responsible for corruption and terrorism.
He said only the BJP can tackle the country's problems and rid the nation of its troubles and people were looking
up to it for this.
In his address, Gadkari said people believe that if any party can
change the future of the country, it is the BJP and hoped Rajnath Singh
will take everyone together and his leadership can lead us to victory in
2014.
On his second term, he said, there has been a political conspiracy to malign him on issues he was not connected with.
