Narendra Modi, Sushma refused to lead BJP

New Delhi: Maharashtra President of Bharatiya Janata Party Nitin Gadkari's name has been finalised for party president's post.

Gadkari is a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh protégé and is a Maharashtrian Brahmin from Nagpur.

Even though he has never contested Lok Sabha or Assembly elections and was unable to lead the BJP to victory in Maharashtra in the recently concluded Assembly polls but he left behind many senior leaders to emerge as the frontrunner for the post of BJP chief.

But those who missed the opportunity are now indicating that they themselves had rejected the offer.

First, there were reports of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi having been considered, but he refused. In off-the-record conversations, some leaders are saying that RSS was pushing for Sushma Swaraj as the next party president.

But she also declined the offer. Sushma is presently the Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and frontrunner to take over from LK Advani as Leader of Opposition. Present incumbent Rajnath Singh though has also been trying hard for this post.