Rajnath sings paeans about Amit Shah at BJP national council meeting

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh lavishly praised new Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Saturday for his huge contribution in facilitating the party's victory in the 2014 general elections.

Virtually certifying Shah as the most suitable person for the post, Singh said at a national council meet held here that some people had initially wondered why Shah had been appointed as BJP chief.

The home minister said that when he was looking for someone to lead the party in the 2014 Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh, he found Shah to be an appropriate choice, and the latter had rewarded that faith by giving the BJP 71 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats that were up for grabs. Two more seats went to a BJP ally, making it a grand total of 73.

"If there is any cadre-based and ideology-based party in India, it is the BJP and the Left. As far as the Congress is concerned, it neither has an ideology nor does it have a cadre," Singh said.

He expressed joy over presiding over the BJP during its march to power at the Centre.

"I got an opportunity to work as (BJP) president, which for a common party man is a great thing. I am delighted that I have seen the party rise to its pinnacle as president," he said.

He said that it was a happy moment for him to recall that the BJP had just two seats in the Lok Sabha in 1984, and today it had over 270.

Singh credited the party's popularity to the efforts put in by lakhs of workers, as well as to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.