Rajnath Singh set to replace Gadkari as BJP president

Amid high drama, Gadkari opts out of race for party president?s post

The massive on-field income tax investigations into the alleged shell companies that invested in the Purti group of companies of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari prompted the leader to opt out of the race to become party chief for a consecutive term.

Gadkari issued a statement opting out of the election scheduled tomorrow, saying he did not want allegations against him in any way to adversely affect interests of BJP. “I have, therefore, decided not to seek a second term as the president of BJP,” he said.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which was earlier backing Gadkari, is now supporting former BJP president Rajnath Singh for the top post, and a formal decision would be taken tomorrow, when all senior leaders would meet for the parliamentary board meeting here.

RSS leader Suresh Joshi met Gadkari at a function in Mumbai for 15 minutes and conveyed the message that the latter should opt out. Senior BJP leaders, including L K Advani, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh had openly expressed displeasure over RSS’s earlier decision to endorse a second term for Gadkari.

Gadkari said he had taken the decision not to contest for party presidentship after talking to all senior leaders of the party. “I have committed no wrong or any impropriety, either directly or indirectly. Yet, the UPA government has been making an effort to spread disinformation about me to hurt me and my party,” Gadkari said his statement.

Earlier in the evening, senior leader Yashwant Sinha had decided to throw his hat in tomorrow’s polls. The move by Sinha, who had earlier demanded Gadkari’s resignation in the wake of allegations of impropriety by his Purti Group, forced the BJP and the RSS to have a rethink.

This is not the first time the RSS has decided to ask Rajnath Singh to take charge of the party, following controversy over BJP president.

RSS had earlier asked Rajnath Singh to take charge of the party in 2005 when Advani was forced to step down from the top post because of his pro-Jinnah comments made in Pakistan during a visit.

Rajnath Singh is one of the most bankable BJP leader for the RSS, as the parent organisation didn’t want LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu to take charge of the party. Though Advani had recently proposed the name of either Sushma Swaraj or Yashwant Sinha instead of Gadkari getting a second term, the idea was shot down by the RSS.