In a bid to re-assert himself, BJP parliamentary party chairman L.K. Advani once again began covertly attacking Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi who is considered as the frontrunner for the party’s prime ministerial candidate.
Mr Advani, it was learnt, told BJP chief Rajnath Singh that it was “undue haste” in elevating Mr Modi in the party that led to JD(U)’s exit from the NDA.
Upset with Mr Modi’s growing clout, Mr Advani apparently also warned that if the BJP goes to poll under one leader and not “collective leadership”, it would only further hurt the NDA.
Mr Advani, who had quit from key BJP posts just a day after Mr Modi was appointed as the chairman of the BJP’s campaign committee for the Lok Sabha polls, is himself upset with the Gujarat chief minister’s growing popularity.
It was after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s intervention and BJP parliamentary board’s decision to reject his resignation, that Mr Advani withdrew his resignation.
Mr Advani had skipped the BJP’s recently-concluded crucial national conclave in Goa where Mr Modi’s name was announced to head the party’s campaign committee, despite reservation from the Advani camp.
While Mr Modi is considered saffron cadre’s first choice for the BJP’s PM candidate, Mr Advani himself is eyeing the post. Sources disclosed after his resignation drama, Mr Advani had put the condition that the PM candidate issue would also be discussed with allies and him.
It could be mentioned here that Mr Advani had called Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav three days back asking them not to quit the 17-year-old alliance.
Mr Advani reportedly told the JD(U) leaders that the PM issue is not yet decided by the BJP. Earlier, Mr Advani had objected to the BJP chief’s decision to elevate Mr Modi in the party’s highest decision making body, the parliamentary board.
At the Goa conclave, the Advani camp had tried to defer the announcement of Mr Modi’s elevation by suggesting that no important decision should be taken in Mr Advani’s absence.
But the BJP chief and a majority section felt that the time was opportune as there was a growing pressure from the BJP cadre, who also want the party leadership to announce Mr Modi as the PM candidate at the earliest.