Rupala elected Gujarat BJP president unanimously

Ahmedabad, Oct 26 (UNI) Mr Parshottam Rupala, who is known to be a close confidante of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, was today unanimously elected as the new state BJP president.

Making this announcement at the general body meeting of the state unit, BJP general secretary Om Mathur, who is in charge of Gujarat, said the election of Mr Rupala was on consensus and without a contest. He will replace state former finance minister Vajubhai Vala.

Mr Ram Naik, former petroleum minister, who has been deputed as the central observer by the BJP high command to oversee the polls, said getting elected unanimously is not an easy task. ''But this happens only in BJP as the party workers are all disciplined and function in a matured manner.'' He said Gujarat is the third state after Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh where organisational elections have taken place.

He said the elections are part of the party's reorganising process. ''The main task of the BJP workers will be to expose the failures of the Congress-led UPA government and to highlight the successes of the BJP governments in various states,'' he added.

Ridiculing the Centre for appointing a Foreign Minister after a gap of eleven months, he said,''The present expansion of Council of Ministers is just a farce. They have appointed an External Affairs Minister after 11 months. It is an important portfolio and should not have been ignored. Plus, a 'daagi' minister--Jayprakash Narayan Yadav-- has made his way into the Cabinet.'' Also addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Mr Rupala on his election and said he brings with him a lot of experience as a grassroots worker. He said BJP is a strong organisation but was not built in one day.''It took efforts of many people over many years to build it.'' Taking a dig at the media, he said the owners of media houses must be disappointed today at the unanimous election of Mr Rupala.

''I do not blame the reporters, but the 'maliks' (owners).

They have been weaving insinuations about fissures in the BJP, but they have been proved otherwise.'' In his acceptance speech, the 52-year-old Rupala said it was an honour to be lead the party in the state.''We will work hard to bring back the BJP to power at the Centre,'' he said.

A huge function has been planned for the BJP chief's annointment on November 9, said Mr Modi.

Mr Rupala, who had been elected thrice to the Assembly in 1991 (byelection),1995 and 1998, had lost the last polls to a Congress greenhorn. Though an agriculturist, he had been a principal in a school at Hamarpur and held several positions in zilla parishad and in nagarpalika.

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