Replacing Gadkari by Rajnath won't make much difference:Laxman

"It is well-known that Rajnath Singh was the BJP chief even at the time of 2009 Lok Sabha elections, which his party had lost. Replacing Gadkari by Rajnath should not make much of a difference... Even if it does, this will be known only after the 2014 polls," Laxman told reporters at a function held to mark his re-entry into the Congress.

Laxman, who joined BJP in 2004 and quit last year following alleged differences with Gadkari, said he was "sad" for being not with the Congress for the last several years during which it was waging a struggle in Madhya Pradesh.

Asked if he thought it was a mistake joining the saffron party, he quipped, "it looks like this today."

Laxman said he left BJP after Gadkari made some "unsavoury" remarks against his family and began feeling "uncomfortable" when he realised that he was being used only to issue statements against his elder brother Digvijay.

"I could never like this policy of divide and rule adopted by the BJP towards my family," he said.

"In politics, one can criticise a party's principle or policy but there was no point in talking against a politician's family," he added.

Laxman alleged that soon after Gadkari became the BJP chief, he said that he did not like north India nor did he think very well of those living in the North-East.

"I found this strange for the President of a national party," he said.

Earlier, thanking everyone in the Congress who had made his re-entry possible, Laxman said he had returned at a time when Congress was in Opposition in Madhya Pradesh and he would help the party regain power in the state.

On whether he will contest elections, Laxman said a decision in this regard will be taken by the party.

Rajnath Singh emerged as the consensus candidate for the top party post last night after Gadkari dramatically opted out of the race for a second term following which the 61-year-old leader from Uttar Pradesh was today unanimously elected as the BJP chief.