BJP National Council ratifies Amit Shah's appointment as new party president

BJP's national council meet, the first after it won the Lok Sabha polls with a thumping majority, began here Saturday.

The meet began with Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) flag at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium.

The day-long event will see Amit Shah's ratification as BJP's new national president.

A close aide of Modi, Shah took over as the president of the BJP July 9 after his predecessor Rajnath Singh was appointed the union home minister.

Amit Shah is suited for the position of the BJP chief due to his leadership in Uttar Pradesh that saw the party bagging 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state during the general election, outgoing BJP chief Rajnath Singh said Saturday.

Addressing the BJP national council meet here, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that "some people may wonder why Amit Shah (for BJP chief's post)?"

He said that when he was looking for someone to lead the party in the 2014 Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh, he zeroed in on Amit Shah.

He added that under Shah's leadership, for the first time BJP got 71 of 80 Lok Sabha seats while two seats went to a BJP ally.

He recalled that the BJP had just two seats in the Lok Sabha in 1984 and today it is the "biggest party".

"The credit goes to lakhs of workers... (and also) credit goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity."

Rajnath Singh said that BJP and Left parties are the only two parties inthe country which are cadre and ideology-based.

"We can say that the only cadre and ideology based party left is the BJP."

"Congress has neither ideology nor cadre," he added.