JOIN USBJP patriarch LK Advani appears to have been isolated in his battle, with the party not offering him an honourable exit but only insisting that they will not accept his resignation from three posts at any cost.
Hurt Advani in his resignation letter to BJP president Rajnath Singh had specifically mentioned that “most leaders of ours are now concerned just with their personal agendas.”
The party leaders were trying to decode whom Advani is referring by saying “most leaders”, apart from his objection to the elevation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as poll campaign panel chief.
BJP's top decision-making body Parliamentary Board rejected his resignation, insisting that the party needs his “guidance more than ever before.”
The board held an urgent meeting at the residence of Rajnath Singh hours after Advani resigned from the Parliamentary Board, National Executive and Election Committee. But the resolution was silent not only on the issues raised by Advani in his letter to Singh but also on what would be the next course of action to placate him.
The BJP leaders are wondering what Rajnath Singh can offer that can placate Advani. Singh cannot withdraw the party decision to make Narendra Modi as poll campaign panel mascot as it would be hugely embarrassing. And nothing short of it would be acceptable to the party patriarch.
“This is not a matter for debate in the media,” M Venkaiah Naidu said when asked did the party failed in understanding their own leader.
RSS leader MJ Vaidya told reporters in Nagpur: “It's shocking that a leader of such a great stature has to quit. It is now evident that all is not well in the BJP. Advani was probably perturbed over the inner crisis in the BJP and therefore quit all positions.”
Party sources said that even the RSS wants Modi as the poll campaign mascot.