New Delhi: A day after stepping down as BJP President, Rajnath Singh on Sunday said there is bound to be a crisis if the authority of the party chief is challenged.
"The line of command rests only in the hands of the party president which is Nitin Gadkari. It is true that if the authority of the party president is challenged, there is bound to be a crisis but this hasn't happened in the BJP and I am confident that this won't happen with Nitin Gadkari either,"
he said.
Recalling that the results of the Lok Sabha elections were "not as per our expectations," Singh said, "Had we attained a good strength in the Lok Sabha, (LK) Advani would have definitely been the Prime Minister".
Asked if he regretted this, he told NDTV, "Yes, absolutely."
Hoping that Atal Bihari Vajpayee will play his role in the party once his health improves, Singh said, "As far as Advaniji is concerned, he is still active in politics and will be in the future."
Calling Gadkari a "visionary and dedicated leader", Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters in Bhopal that his party would be richly benefited by the new BJP chief's experience.
Gadkari has excellent organisational skills and "under him, the BJP will become stronger," he said.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, December 20, 2009, 14:48