Headlines
End of an era: No Advani speech at BJP national executive
Bengaluru, April 4
In what may be the end of an
era in the BJP, the national executive culminated on Saturday without a
speech from party patriarch L.K. Advani, even as party leaders
repeatedly referred to him as a "margdarshak" or one who shows the path.
This is the second time Advani has not spoken at the national executive of the party which he helped found in 1980.
Advani,
one of the BJP's main founding members, has attended and addressed all
national executive meetings of the party since 1980 when the party was
founded, except the one at Goa in 2013 which he did not attend.
This
time, even as Advani was present throughout the two-day meet, and also
at a public rally held in Bengaluru, the veteran leader did not make any
speech on a single occasion.
Senior party leader and Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley, while confirming that Advani did not make any
speech, refused to say what was the reason behind it.
"Whatever
arrangements (for the meeting) are done, they are done after
consultation with the whole party," Jaitley said when asked who decided
to keep Advani out of the list of speakers.
Asked whether the
party did not feel the need for the veteran to speak, or he himself
opted out, Jaitley said: "what transpires in the decision making process
of the party cannot be shared."
"Advani ji is our senior leader. He can address us whenever he wants," he added.
A party leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was Advani who decided not to speak.
The
87-year-old political stalwart, who served as the deputy prime minister
during the NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and was the prime
ministerial candidate for the party in the 2009 Lok Sabha poll, was
eased out of important roles including the parliamentary board after
Amit Shah took over.
Advani had a falling out with the party when
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then the chief minister of Gujarat, was
announced as the head of the campaign committee for the 2014 general
election. This happened during the national executive meet at Goa in
June 2013.
Not only did Advani skip the meet, but he resigned from all party posts a day after the national executive ended.
The issues were reconciled later and since then Advani has praised Modi for leading the party to victory more than once.
However,
soon after Amit Shah took over as BJP president, Advani was shunted out
of the top decision making body - parliamentary board of the party and a
new "Margdarshak Mandal" (guidance committee) was formed. It has
Advani, Vajpayee and Murli Manohar Joshi, the three seniormost members,
along with Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.