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“Most leaders of ours (sic) are now concerned just with their personal agendas,” he said in a letter to BJP President Rajnath Singh.
Party members close to him, such as Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar and Venkaiah Naidu, tried to persuade him to withdraw his resignation, Modi spoke to him over phone and the Parliamentary board passed a resolution rejecting his resignation. But the signs emanating from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were far from damp.
There were clear signals that RSS would not shed tears if he wanted to leave the posts. In fact, RSS functionaries reminded reporters of the two most important posts he hadn’t resigned from — the leadership of the BJP Parliamentary party and the chairmanship of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). “As far as the Sangh is concerned, the Advani era in the party is over,” said a party leader.
Advani’s supporters, however, said his resignation was neither out of malice nor ambition. He was trying to tell RSS, which had orchestrated the hysteria for Modi’s elevation, it could no longer control BJP. Advani’s camp said this was actually a clash between Advani and RSS.
His resignation, if eventually accepted, could have multiple implications. It also means a possible eclipse in BJP of those who owe their position to their proximity to Advani. Some leaders, such as S Gurumurthy, Balbir Punj, Ananth Kumar and Venkaiah Naidu, are said to have derived authority mainly because they were Advani’s supporters and advisors when he was implicated in the hawala scam in the mid-1990s. “We will now see leaders emerge in the party, not darbaris (courtiers),” said a party leader.
It also has implications for the allies of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which are non-committal on BJP’s internal affairs but are clear that Advani should remain the NDA chairman.
However, BJP and RSS looked like evading the central question Advani had raised — that BJP must resolutely fight against vyaktivaad (personality cult), “because that is what differentiated BJP from the Congress”.
“What happened to vyaktivaad when he (Advani) was ready to ride all over India on a rath? Why go far? Until two months ago, Nitin Gadkari was considered by him the worst BJP President ever. And now, two days ago he was ready to appoint Gadkari the chairman of the campaign committee for state elections? Just to suit himself and to counter the rise of Narendra Modi? Isn’t that vyaktivaad,” asked a Sangh leader.
“Till now, the rise of state leaders had always been resisted by people in Delhi. Now you will have the emergence of a new set of state leaders,” said RK Sinha, a member of the BJP national executive. “After a long time, a fresh face is emerging in BJP that the workers in the party connect with… At some point, one has to decide to retire.”
| Advani's political journey: key positions held | |
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Senior BJP leader L K Advani has resigned from all party posts, television channels reported on Monday, a day after Narendra Modi was chosen to head the party's campaign in elections due next year. Here's a look at some of the positions held by Advani in his political career... | |
| Official Positions | |
| Chairman |
Delhi Metropolitan Council, March 1967 - March 1970 |
|
Leader of Opposition |
Rajya Sabha, January - April 1980 Lok Sabha, November 1991 - July 1993 Lok Sabha, May 2004 - January 2010 |
| Ministerial posts |
Minister for Information & Broadcasting March 1977 - July 1979 Home Minister 1998 Deputy Prime Minister Oct 1999 - May 2004 |
| Political Positions | |
| President |
Delhi State Jana Sangh, 1970-72 All India Jana Sangh, February 1973, re-elected in April 1974 and again in April 1975 Bharatiya Janata Party, May 1986 to 1991 and again from July 1993 to May 1998 |
| Vice-President | Delhi State Jana Sangh, 1965-67 |
| General Secretary |
Janata Party 1977-80; Bharatiya Janata Party 1980-86 |
