<p>Rajnath Singh was Wednesday unanimously elected the new president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), succeeding Nitin Gadkari who decided against a second term till he was cleared of alleged corruption charges.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Rajnath Singh will serve his term from 2013 to 2015, and lead the party in the 2014 general elections.<br /><br />A resolution supporting Rajnath Singh as the BJP chief was unanimously adopted by the parliamentary board of the party, after which he filed his nomination papers.<br />The returning officer announced that 17 other nominations were also filed in Rajnath Singh's favour.<br /><br />Rajnath Singh has previously been the president of the party from 2005 to 2009. He first became the party president in December 2005, following the resignation of L.K. Advani. <br /><br />He was re-elected in November 2006 unanimously and was succeeded by Nitin Gadkari in 2009.<br /><br />He also served as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from October 2000 to March 2002.<br /><br />Rajnath Singh's name was zeroed upon for the post of party president Tuesday evening, following Income Tax 'surveys' of around nine locations connected to alleged financial wrongdoing by a company linked to Gadkari.<br /><br />According to informed sources, several senior leaders, including BJP veteran L.K. Advani, had reservations on Gadkari getting a second term in view of allegations surrounding the Purti group linked to him.<br /><br />Gadkari, meanwhile, said he voluntarily backed out from going for a second term as he wanted his name cleared of the allegations.</p>
<p>Rajnath Singh was Wednesday unanimously elected the new president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), succeeding Nitin Gadkari who decided against a second term till he was cleared of alleged corruption charges.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Rajnath Singh will serve his term from 2013 to 2015, and lead the party in the 2014 general elections.<br /><br />A resolution supporting Rajnath Singh as the BJP chief was unanimously adopted by the parliamentary board of the party, after which he filed his nomination papers.<br />The returning officer announced that 17 other nominations were also filed in Rajnath Singh's favour.<br /><br />Rajnath Singh has previously been the president of the party from 2005 to 2009. He first became the party president in December 2005, following the resignation of L.K. Advani. <br /><br />He was re-elected in November 2006 unanimously and was succeeded by Nitin Gadkari in 2009.<br /><br />He also served as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from October 2000 to March 2002.<br /><br />Rajnath Singh's name was zeroed upon for the post of party president Tuesday evening, following Income Tax 'surveys' of around nine locations connected to alleged financial wrongdoing by a company linked to Gadkari.<br /><br />According to informed sources, several senior leaders, including BJP veteran L.K. Advani, had reservations on Gadkari getting a second term in view of allegations surrounding the Purti group linked to him.<br /><br />Gadkari, meanwhile, said he voluntarily backed out from going for a second term as he wanted his name cleared of the allegations.</p>