New Delhi:
LK Advani, senior BJP leader has refused to reconsider his resignation from party posts a day after he was over-ruled and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was chosen to head the party's campaign in elections due next year. (Full coverage)
BJP president Rajnath Singh called on Mr Advani this afternoon to appease him, and requested that he not make his resignation public. Mr Advani shared his letter with all media organisations. "Most leaders of ours are now concerned just with their personal agendas," he said in a dark assessment of the party he helped found in 1980. (Read the full letter)
The 85-year-old has resigned as a member of the BJP's parliamentary board, its national executive and its election committee. To an array of leaders who visited him today, he reportedly said that "Mr Modi is not the right leader for India."
The Gujarat chief minister tweeted this evening that he had phoned Mr Advani and urged him to reconsider his resignation in deference to "the wishes of lakhs of party workers." Mr Modi also posted that he will "stand by whatever decision the Board takes," a reference to this evening's meeting of the BJP's top decision-making body, its parliamentary board.
Sources say that the BJP is clear that while Mr Advani will be exhorted to reverse today's decisions, Mr Modi's new role will not be reconsidered. (Offer Advani courtesy, not compromise: alleged message from Modi supporters)
Mr Advani is allegedly hurt by this weekend's protests outside his home by a mob that shouted slogans in support of the Gujarat Chief Minister. He is also upset that his party's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, ordered the announcement of Mr Modi's promotion at a BJP conference in Goa though Mr Advani was missing.
BJP president Rajnath Singh called on Mr Advani this afternoon to appease him, and requested that he not make his resignation public. Mr Advani shared his letter with all media organisations. "Most leaders of ours are now concerned just with their personal agendas," he said in a dark assessment of the party he helped found in 1980. (Read the full letter)
The 85-year-old has resigned as a member of the BJP's parliamentary board, its national executive and its election committee. To an array of leaders who visited him today, he reportedly said that "Mr Modi is not the right leader for India."
The Gujarat chief minister tweeted this evening that he had phoned Mr Advani and urged him to reconsider his resignation in deference to "the wishes of lakhs of party workers." Mr Modi also posted that he will "stand by whatever decision the Board takes," a reference to this evening's meeting of the BJP's top decision-making body, its parliamentary board.
Sources say that the BJP is clear that while Mr Advani will be exhorted to reverse today's decisions, Mr Modi's new role will not be reconsidered. (Offer Advani courtesy, not compromise: alleged message from Modi supporters)
Mr Advani is allegedly hurt by this weekend's protests outside his home by a mob that shouted slogans in support of the Gujarat Chief Minister. He is also upset that his party's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, ordered the announcement of Mr Modi's promotion at a BJP conference in Goa though Mr Advani was missing.
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