Gadkari alleged there was a “political conspiracy” to tarnish his image and he proposed the name of Singh for the top post in party's interest.
“As far as the election for the second term is concerned, there had been a political conspiracy to link me with a subject with which I had no direct or indirect involvement. Then there were false allegations one after the other, and yesterday also there was a similar attempt,” he said.
The party's Prime Ministerial probable and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi also welcomed Singh's elevation, saying he has administrative and organisational experience and this would benefit BJP.
“I called up Shri Rajnath Singhji and congratulated him. He brings with him vast experience of both organisation and administration,” Modi said on Twitter. “Rajnath Singhji served as Agriculture Minister in Atalji's Govt. He has always been associated with the farmers. BJP will gain from this,” he said.
After taking over, Singh said, “I accept this not as a post, but as a responsibility”.
The new party chief exuded confidence of steering the party to victory 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 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.
