Rajnath Singh to be BJP President, arrives at party office with Nitin Gadkari
05:39AM Wed 23 Jan, 2013
New Delhi: Rajnath Singh, who is set to be the new president of the BJP, met party senior LK Advani this morning, before heading to the BJP headquarters, to attend a party parliamentary board meeting and file his nomination papers.
BJP's Parliamentary Board has endorsed Rajnath Singh's nomination as the next party president. The party also thanked Mr Gadkari for his leadership.
Mr Singh arrived at the BJP headquarters with Nitin Gadkari, the outgoing president, as the main Opposition party attempts to set its house in order after its internal wranglings played out in public all of Tuesday, ending in Mr Gadkari resigning late last night and confirming that he would not seek an unprecedented second consecutive term as party president after all.
Mr Gadkari, who is being investigated by the income tax department, said in a statement last night that while he had done no wrong, "I do not wish that this should in any way adversely affect the interest of the BJP. I have therefore decided not to seek a second term as the president of the BJP." (Read full statement)
This will be Mr Singh's second term as BJP chief. He had also preceded Mr Gadkari, who was handpicked by the BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for the party's top job in 2009. Sources said the RSS, which was pushing for Mr Gadkari's second term, chose Mr Singh when it was clear that there was too much opposition within the party. Officially, the RSS said picking a president was an internal matter of the BJP. Rajnath Singh too is a veteran RSS man.
As Income tax officials yesterday visited eight locations in Mumbai linked to 24 different firms that invested in or did business with Mr Gadkari's Purti Group, top leaders of the BJP met in Delhi, in the presence of an RSS representative, and decided on Rajnath Singh as a consensus candidate. (Read)
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi tweeted this morning, "I called up Shri Rajnath Singh ji & congratulated him. He brings with him vast experience of both organisation & administration," and "Rajnath Singh ji served as Agriculture Minister in Atal ji's Govt. He has always been associated with the farmers. BJP will gain from this." Mr Modi is among those in the party who have not shared the best of relations with Mr Gadkari.
The first visit Rajnath Singh, 62, made this morning was to the party's senior-most leader, Mr Advani's home, to "seeking his blessings." Mr Advani was reportedly not in favour of Mr Singh being made the next BJP president, but eventually said yes to his candidacy, preferring him or "any candidate" to Mr Gadkari, sources said.
Mr Advani and Mr Gadkari's other detractors like Yashwant Sinha had argued that installing him in office once again would dent the BJP's credibility perilously close to Lok Sabha elections in 2014.
Mr Advani had earlier reportedly suggested that Sushma Swaraj be made the next president of the party, but it was decided that frontline leaders like her, Mr Jaitley and Mr Modi should not be pulled out of their current roles, sources said.
Mr Gadkari has dismissed the IT investigation centered around the Purti Group, which he founded in 2000, as an orchestration by the Congress-led UPA government to malign him. He said in his statement that, "the UPA government has been making an effort to spread disinformation about me in order to hurt me and my party. I have always said that I am willing for any independent enquiry. I shall fight these efforts of this government both politically and legally."
NDTV
Rajnath Singh, who is set to be the new president of the BJP, met party senior LK Advani this morning, before heading to the BJP headquarters, to attend a party parliamentary board meeting and file his nomination papers.
BJP's Parliamentary Board has endorsed Rajnath Singh's nomination as the next party president. The party also thanked Mr Gadkari for his leadership.
Mr Singh arrived at the BJP headquarters with Nitin Gadkari, the outgoing president, as the main Opposition party attempts to set its house in order after its internal wranglings played out in public all of Tuesday, ending in Mr Gadkari resigning late last night and confirming that he would not seek an unprecedented second consecutive term as party president after all.
Mr Gadkari, who is being investigated by the income tax department, said in a statement last night that while he had done no wrong, "I do not wish that this should in any way adversely affect the interest of the BJP. I have therefore decided not to seek a second term as the president of the BJP." (Read full statement)
This will be Mr Singh's second term as BJP chief. He had also preceded Mr Gadkari, who was handpicked by the BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for the party's top job in 2009. Sources said the RSS, which was pushing for Mr Gadkari's second term, chose Mr Singh when it was clear that there was too much opposition within the party. Officially, the RSS said picking a president was an internal matter of the BJP. Rajnath Singh too is a veteran RSS man.
As Income tax officials yesterday visited eight locations in Mumbai linked to 24 different firms that invested in or did business with Mr Gadkari's Purti Group, top leaders of the BJP met in Delhi, in the presence of an RSS representative, and decided on Rajnath Singh as a consensus candidate. (Read)
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi tweeted this morning, "I called up Shri Rajnath Singh ji & congratulated him. He brings with him vast experience of both organisation & administration," and "Rajnath Singh ji served as Agriculture Minister in Atal ji's Govt. He has always been associated with the farmers. BJP will gain from this." Mr Modi is among those in the party who have not shared the best of relations with Mr Gadkari.
The first visit Rajnath Singh, 62, made this morning was to the party's senior-most leader, Mr Advani's home, to "seeking his blessings." Mr Advani was reportedly not in favour of Mr Singh being made the next BJP president, but eventually said yes to his candidacy, preferring him or "any candidate" to Mr Gadkari, sources said.
Mr Advani and Mr Gadkari's other detractors like Yashwant Sinha had argued that installing him in office once again would dent the BJP's credibility perilously close to Lok Sabha elections in 2014.
Mr Advani had earlier reportedly suggested that Sushma Swaraj be made the next president of the party, but it was decided that frontline leaders like her, Mr Jaitley and Mr Modi should not be pulled out of their current roles, sources said.
Mr Gadkari has dismissed the IT investigation centered around the Purti Group, which he founded in 2000, as an orchestration by the Congress-led UPA government to malign him. He said in his statement that, "the UPA government has been making an effort to spread disinformation about me in order to hurt me and my party. I have always said that I am willing for any independent enquiry. I shall fight these efforts of this government both politically and legally."
NDTV
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