India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday elected unopposed senior leader Rajnath Singh as the political outfit's new President, a day after the incumbent Nitin Gadkari quit the race to the post following an internal revolt in the wake of corruption allegations against him.

Immediately after taking over the reins of the party from Gadkari, 61-year-old Singh said that he was not happy with the circumstances in which he was taking over as the party chief. "I'm hurt by the false allegations on Nitin Gadkari. I am accepting this post as a responsibility and not a job. The whole BJP is with Nitin Gadkari," he said.

The former Chief Minister of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, and a two-time party chief, also took a dig at the ruling Congress party. "After Congress, India has become a current account deficit country. We also ran the government and we were able to control inflation. The Congress is only interested in vote bank politics," he said, adding he's confident that the BJP would win the general elections in 2014.

Singh suddenly became the favorite to the party president's post and his nomination was also approved by the BJP's parliamentary board this morning after Gadkari announced Tuesday that he would not seek a second consecutive term as senior party leaders, including the veteran L.K. Advani, opposed to his getting elected as party chief again.

However, experts say that Singh is unlikely to become BJP's prime ministerial candidate in 2014 and Modi is likely to be the favorite for the post though internal feud in the party and squabbles between the party and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh may see an unlikely leader emerge as the prime ministerial candidate.

Gadkari is facing charges of impropriety related to the Purti group of companies formerly owned by his family. His chances as the party President for the second consecutive two-year term fainted after Indian tax authorities earlier this week conducted raids in his company's offices and some homes in the wake of the allegations.