Janata Dal (United) leader Ali Anwar on Tuesday took a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after actor-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha voiced his support for Lal Krishna Advani, saying it is an antique party that is remote controlled from Nagpur.
"One person has hijacked the entire party. Even a lay man can understand this. All the senior leaders Murli Manohar Joshiji, Advaniji, Sushma Swarajji will have to report to Modiji. Their matter is being remote controlled from Nagpur. Mohan Bhagwatji is now looking after this," Anwar told Asian News International (ANI) here.
"You might not have heard or seen of a party in the entire world which does not take decisions by its own. The decisions are taken by someone else sitting at Nagpur. The RSS decides as to who will be the Prime Ministerial candidate, who will be the party chief," he added.
Shatrughan Sinha, who has been left out of all the panels for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls headed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, earlier in the day demanded that Advani should be at the helm of affairs for he is the 'godfather' of the outfit.
"As far as seniors are being overlooked, this is what you all are saying. If senior leaders are being ignored in the party then I believe that this should be rectified," Sinha told mediapersons in Patna.
"People who are aspiring to be PM should come forward and accept senior leaders," he added, while asserting that all leaders should be on board.
Sinha said the role of senior party leaders, including Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, should not be overlooked.
Sinha further said Modi might have emerged quite popular, especially after his emphatic win in Gujarat, but Advani was not only the senior most and biggest leader of the party but of the country and he should not be ignored.
The BJP last week announced an 11-member campaign committee and 20 campaign panels to deal with manifesto drafting, vision document, new voters and media management among others.
BJP leader Ananth Kumar, who announced the list of 20 campaign committees, said they will be steered under Modi's leadership.
Kumar said senior BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani and party chief Rajnath Singh will oversee the functioning of central poll panel, which is headed by Modi.
