 "RSS' carrot-and-stick tactic makes Advani fall in line")
After hours of persuasion, the breakthrough was finally made when former BJP president Nitin Gadkari reached Delhi this morning from Nagpur, after holding detailed discussions with senior members of the RSS.
The message from Nagpur was clear, that Advani would have a say in all decisions of the party and his “issues” about the functioning of some of the representatives of the RSS would be addressed in due time. S Gurumurthy, RSS ideologue and a confidant of Advani, also arrived in Delhi to reason with the veteran leader and to convey the decision of the Sangh.
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“BJP’s parliamentary board had yesterday decided not to accept L K Advani’s resignation. On behalf of the party, I have assured him that his concerns about the functioning of the party will be properly addressed and the modalities will be discussed,” said Rajnath Singh, BJP president. “RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat spoke to Advani in the afternoon and asked him to respect the decision of the parliamentary board and continue to guide the BJP in national interest.”
Members of the RSS have also told Advani the decision to appoint Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the chairman of the campaign committee would not be reversed and he would have to respect the decision taken by the national executive.
The RSS has also conveyed to Advani that his demand to appoint a separate election management committee for the coming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Jharkhand would be met. Advani wanted Gadkari to head the election management committee, but the former BJP president had refused to accept the offer.
Advani was upset with the BJP’s top brass for not being adequately consulted before taking the decision to appoint Modi as chief campaigner of the party. His decision to resign from the parliamentary board, national executive and election committee on Monday had shocked the entire BJP leadership.
Senior leaders of the party, including Sushma Swaraj, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rajnath Singh, Gopinath Munde and Uma Bharati continued to persuade him to take back the decision.
The pro-Advani faction in the party was annoyed after senior leaders decided not to let Advani’s decision affect the day-to-day functioning of the party and Rajnath Singh went to Rajasthan for a political meeting. Arun Jaitley, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, was also not in Delhi.
“Two things were made very clear to Advani, that although BJP leaders respect him and want him to take his resignation back, they will not abide by all his decisions. Second, it was also made clear to him that his rebellion will not be joined by others members in the party,” said a senior BJP leader who was aware of the consultations.
While Advani’s protégés were trying to convince him to withdraw his decision, it was also conveyed to the seniormost leader that if Advani decided to continue with his resignation decision, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s growing influence in the party would further reduce Advani’s control over the organisation.
“Advani was all alone as none of the important chief ministers, including Shivraj Singh Chouhan (of Madhya Pradesh), Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, rushed to Delhi. He got very little support for his rebellion,” said another senior BJP leader.