New Delhi, Jan 23 : Janata Dal- United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav on Wednesday congratulated Rajnath Singh on his election as the BJP president.

"I congratulate BJP and Rajnathji from the bottom of my heart," Yadav told ANI.

"He is a knowledgeable man. I am sure the party will grow under his leadership," he said.

"The alliance that NDA is I am sure with Rajnath Singh becoming the president, I feel that NDA will expand and we will grow," he added.

Rajnath Singh was formally elected the national president as no other leader from the party had filed his or her nomination papers.

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

Singh filed his nomination papers for the post of president after incumbent Nitin Gadkari resigned as the head of the organisation. A total 18 sets 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"Rajnath Singh has not withdrawn his nomination papers.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.

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

Gadkari opted out of the election process on grounds that he had to spend time addressing allegations levelled by the income tax department relating to business deals of the Purti group of companies. (ANI)