Nagpur:
After a marathon meeting over lunch with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur, LK Advani said their discussions today on the forthcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections would benefit the BJP.
His rebellion clearly over, the BJP's senior most leader also said, "I have been associated with the Sangh since I was 14. If the Sangh (RSS) hadn't been there, there would have been no Jan Sangh or BJP."
It was Mr Bhagwat who had intervened last month when Mr Advani, provoked by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's promotion as the BJP's election campaign chief, resigned from all party posts. It was also the RSS that had firmly insisted that Mr Modi's promotion must be announced at the BJP's meeting in Goa, despite Mr Advani's absence.
Mr Advani rescinded his resignation soon after Mr Bhagwat talked to him.
On Thursday, Mr Advani and Mr Modi were tactically seated side by side at a meeting of 12 top BJP leaders which endorsed Mr Modi as the party's key strategist.
At the RSS headquarters in Nagpur today, Mr Advani was reportedly reassured that he remained important in the party and would have a key role in the BJPs' campaign. But the RSS is clear that there is no room for dissonance on leadership issues.
As a seeming compromise, former party president Nitin Gadkari is likely to be given responsibility of Delhi and Rajasthan for state elections. Mr Advani had demanded that Mr Gadkari head a committee to handle elections for all four states that go to polls this year, but that had been rejected as an attempt to dilute Mr Modi's new post.
Mr Bhagwat had lunch with another BJP senior Murli Manohar Joshi yesterday and tomorrow will share that meal with the party's president Rajnath Singh. The three lunch meetings in three days are being seen as the RSS's attempt to convince leaders like Mr Advani and Mr Joshi that they must now play mentor and guide others in the party, rather than vie for key posts.
In the past, the 85-year-old Mr Advani has not taken kindly to the RSS' advice that he should slip into a mentor's role.
Mr Advani is believed to one of the many BJP leaders vying to be projected as the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP. Increasingly, Narendra Modi is seen as the top contender for that position.