Date:10/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/10/stories/2006091002351200.htm

National

3-year tenure for Rajnath from now

Neena Vyas

Party should go forward under his leadership, says Vajpayee

Other leaders also say Rajnath will continue
He stresses internal democracy

Allow contests in the absence of consensus for elected posts

DEHRA DUN: Rajnath Singh will remain president of the Bharatiya Janata Party for another three years.

The process of organisational elections, already begun, is expected to be completed by November, well ahead of Assembly polls in four States early next year. Mr. Singh is completing the tenure of L.K. Advani, from whom he took over as president in January this year. Now, he will have the full three-year tenure.

In his concluding remarks at the three-day national executive committee meeting here on Saturday, the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee complimented the party president on raising people-oriented issues such as the agrarian crisis, suicide by farmers, price rise and internal security during the session. He said the party should go forward under Mr. Singh's leadership.

Mr. Vajpayee's words were taken as a signal for an assured three-year term for Mr. Singh. Other senior leaders also confirmed that there was no doubt that he would continue as president.

This was understood when he took over the reins from Mr. Advani, they said.

During the meeting, Mr. Singh laid stress on internal democracy, adding if consensus was not arrived at for elected posts, contests should be allowed.

During the past two years not a single contested election has taken place in the party.

When M. Venkaiah Naidu became BJP president, the National Democratic Alliance Government was in office, and he virtually gave a direction against holding contested polls on the ground that they created bitterness and factionalism.