New Delhi: LK Advani will stay. In all three BJP posts that he had quit yesterday. Among the many requests that the party stalwart received to reconsider his decision, was an important phone call from Mohan Bhagwat, the head of the BJP's powerful ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS.
Mr Bhagwat, party President
Rajnath Singh said, asked Mr Advani to "respect the parliamentary board decision" to reject his resignation. Mr Advani accepted Mr Bhagwat's advice, the BJP chief said. The parliamentary board is a group of 12 top BJP leaders who make all important decisions in the party. Mr Advani is a member and that was one of the positions he had sought to quit.
Mr Advani sent his strongly worded resignation yesterday because the party over-ruled his objections and appointed Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi chief of the BJP's election campaign committee. He was said to be deeply offended by the RSS's alleged insistence that the BJP announce Mr Modi's promotion at its Goa conclave "with or without Advani."
Mr Advani did not attend the meeting pleading illness.
This morning Rajnath Singh insisted that the RSS had played no role in Mr Modi being promoted in Goa in Mr Advani's absence. "I want to clarify, the RSS is not dictating to us," he said.
Mr Advani's battle with the RSS is not new. He cut his political teeth as an RSS man decades ago, but has in the last few years been among those in the party who have strongly resisted attempts by the Sangh to appropriate a key role in decision making for the BJP.
The RSS has repeatedly suggested to the 85-year-old that it is time for him to play a mentoring role and allow younger leaders to lead the BJP.
Mr Modi being given charge of the BJP's mission 2014 is seen by many as the next step towards the Gujarat Chief Minister being declared the BJP's candidate for prime minister in the general elections now months away. Many party leaders, including Mr Advani, reportedly believe they have better credentials for the job.