DHAKA: Amit Shah, a close associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is the new BJP president, outgoing chief Rajnath Singh announced today.

Rajnath, with PM Modi by his side, said he had resigned today as he is now a Union Home Minister in BJP-led NDA Cabinet. He said Amit Shah's appointment was unanimously supported by all members of the BJP's parliamentary board, a group of 12 top decision makers this morning.

Amit Shah, who sat on the other side of Modi, had some weeks ago emerged the front-runner vis-a-vis colleagues such as JP Nadda and Om Prakash Mathur, with assembly elections due in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand.  

In the national elections in May this year, Amit Shah, 50, engineered a massive victory for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state, delivering 71 of the state's 80 parliamentary seats.

The party hopes he will do that again in the forthcoming assembly elections, crucial for the BJP to improve its numbers in the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority.

When Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat, Amit Shah served as his Home Minister, but had to resign in 2010 after he was alleged to have sanctioned a fake encounter by the state police, which saw three Muslims being killed by officers who alleged they were terrorists planning to assassinate Modi, reports NDTV.

Amit Shah faces murder charges for allegedly allowing the extra-judicial killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, a small-time criminal, his wife and a witness.

Currently a general secretary of the BJP, Amit Shah says the murder charges are a political conspiracy.

During the campaign for the national election, Amit Shah was banned by the powerful Election Commission from rallies and speeches after it found him guilty of delivering "hate speeches" designed to promote "hatred and ill will" between religions.

The ban was lifted after Amit Shah vowed in writing that he would not "use abusive or derogatory language in the campaign"..

BDST: 1334 HRS, JUL 09, 2014