New Delhi, Jan 23 (ANI): Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh has been formally elected the national president as no other leader from the party filed nomination papers against him.

Singh after getting elected on Wednesday was felicitated by senior leaders including Gadkari, L.K. Advani, Dr. Murli Manohar, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar and Ramlal to file his nomination papers.

Singh filed his nomination papers on Wendesday afternoon for the president post after incumbent Nitin Gadkari resigned as the head of the organisation. A total 18 set of nomination papers were filed in favour of Singh.

"Rajnath Singh has not withdrawn his nomination papers. He being the single candidate after end of nominations is being declared elected for post of BJP president," said returning officer of the BJP, Thawar Chand Gehlot.

The BJP parliamentary board, which met on Wednesday morning, endorsed election of Singh as the new president of the party. The board also appreciated growth of the party under Gadkari's leadership.

The returning officer of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Thawar Chand Gehlot, briefed the mediapersons about the election process.

"From 10 am to 11.30 am, nomination papers will be filed. From 11.30 to 12 pm nomination papers will be examined. From 12 pm to 12.30 pm is the time for the withdrawal of the nominations. If there is only one name then by 12.30 pm we will announce the candidate as elected unopposed. In case there is more than one candidate contesting then we will announce the date of the election later on," said Gehlot.

In a day of dramatic developments capped by Gadkari's announcement, Rajnath Singh emerged as the frontrunner in the BJP presidential poll battle.

The chief of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nitin Gadkari, resigned from his post on Tuesday (January 22) and ruled out seeking a second term in office.

Gadkari, who was billed for re-election as party chief, has been in the eye of a storm after media reports said that the income tax department had raided the offices of his Purti group of companies.

The President of Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vijender Gupta exuded confidence in Rajnath Singh's leadership.

"The party is united and is standing with full confidence. Rajnath Singh will today file his nomination and if there is no other contestant then he would be announced as President. Singh is a leader of the people and he directly interacts with the workers of the party. I think that his experience as the president of the party in the past will prove beneficial for the organization," said Gupta.

Rajnath Singh met party senior LK Advani this morning, before heading to the BJP headquarters, to attend a party parliamentary board meeting and file his nomination papers around noon.

Singh arrived at the BJP headquarters with Nitin Gadkari, the outgoing president.

Chief Ministers Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated Rajnath Singh. (ANI)