Click to play videoNew Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh is set to resign as party president within the next fortnight and will be replaced by Maharashtra politician Nitin Gadkari, CNN-IBN has learnt.
Sources in the BJP say Singh will resign as party president before his term ends in December. Gadkari, the BJP chief in Maharashtra, may be announced as the new BJP president anytime after that.
Gadkari is likely to take over charge of the party as early as mid-December, when BJP's organisational elections are due in all states. That will wind up by February next year and once Gadkari's name is announced, it will be officially ratified at the BJP's national council meeting likely to be called in the third week of December.
Sources tell CNN-IBN Advani was initially reluctant to accept Gadkari for the post, but Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders convinced him.
CNN-IBN learns Gadkari is the personal choice of RSS chief Mohan Rao Bhagwat--both men hail from Nagpur.
Advani, a co-founder of the BJP, had initially conveyed to RSS leaders that Gadkari lacked the stature and the merit to lead the party at a national level. After several rounds of discussions between the RSS and the BJP high command, Advani fell in line.
Critics argue that Gadkari had failed to rejuvenate the Maharashtra BJP and must take blame for the party’s defeat in the state Assembly elections, but he has been selected to be president because he is non-controversial and is not from Delhi.
Gadkari starting off as a simple RSS worker and used to be responsible for rolling and laying of carpets at RSS functions in the seventies. From such humble beginning to becoming the national president of the BJP, the wheel has turned a full circle for him.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
 |
 |
 |
|
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.