Atal not to attend BJP meet

In his more than half a century long political career, this is probably the first time former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will be giving a miss to an important meeting of his party like the National Executive.

His ill health has virtually meant that he will not be present in Bhopal for the BJP's National Executive. A situation which has created an air of expectancy around the question: After Vajpayee, who?

Added to this is the fact that this National Executive is centred around an anticipation of mid-term polls and the campaign line to be determined by the BJP in that event.

BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi categorically stated today that just who would be the prime ministerial candidate projected by the BJP and NDA, was still a matter to be decided.

"What if Atalji is ill, he is still our tallest leader," he said, hinting that till Vajpayee ruled himself out of the race, he would still be leading it.

"First, let the polls be announced, then the matter will be discussed in appropriate fora for the party to come to a decision," he said fielding questions in Bhopal.

He refused to answer questions related to succession and anybody being projected as a prime ministerial candidate.

The mood in Bhopal, however, suggests that Rajnath Singh's authority or whatever little he was able to project before the debacle of the Uttar Pradesh elections has been eroded to a great degree, leading to speculation that L K Advani may regain the centre stage in party affairs, with even the RSS not blocking him.

Advani has been at the helm of raising the Ram Setu affidavit issue, with Rajnath only looking on from far. He also articulated the "definitive party view" on the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement, much to the chagrin of others in the party.

Questions of leadership aside, the party has its agenda book-full, with a detailed political resolution and a separate resolution on the "betrayal of the 'aam aadmi' by the UPA government" and one on internal security.

On the ongoing Ram Setu controversy, Naqvi used strong words to describe Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's remarks on Hindu god Ram. "This shows an utter bankruptcy of thought on his part and he should take back his insulting words," he said.