After Modi, Sushma Swaraj meets Advani to convince him against Bhopal Thursday, March 20, 2014 Nitty gritty News & Media New Delhi: BJPs prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and senior party leader Sushma Swaraj reached out to LK Advani on Thursday to try and convince him to contest from Gandhinagar and not push for Bhopal. However, if reports are to believed, the party patriarch is sticking to his stand. Modi met Advani at his residence today morning. The two held discussions for over 50 minutes. Though no official word has come out of what transpired during the meeting, reports claimed that Advani stuck to his “desire” to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Bhopal. Later, Sushma Swaraj reached Advanis residence to discuss the issue amid growing unease in the party over Advanis continued anger against the party leadership. It was Swarajs second meeting with Advani in as many days. Yesterday she had net him along with Nitin Gadkari to try and convince him. Modi had also held a separate meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Trouble started after Advani, who was earlier keen to contest from Gandhinagar, a seat he has held for 16 years, suddenly expressed his wish to contest from Bhopal. Reports claimed that Advani argued with party president Rajnath Singh that since most senior leaders were allowed to contest from the seats of their choice, his wish to contest from Madhya Pradesh should be respected as well. While the entire issue is seen as the latest round of the ongoing friction between Advani and Modi that began after Modi was pitchforked into prominence in the party, eventually leading to his nomination as the prime ministerial candidate. While Advanis wish to move out of Modis Gujarat is seen as his lack of confidence in the support his candidature would garner within the partys rank and file in Gujarat. For him, Bhopal, in Shivraj Singh Chauhans Madhya Pradesh is a much safer bet given the level of trust he enjoys with the him. Also, by winning from Bhopal, Advani hopes to send out the message that he is not depended on Modi. However, the party high command, especially Modi, is wary of the adverse impact of Advani not contesting from Gandhinagar. The underlying fear being that the opposition will use the episode to allege that BJP has become a one man show run by Modi. Advani, yesterday, skipped a crucial BJP parliamentary board meeting where the issue was discussed. The party top brass later concluded that his shifting of constituency will send “wrong signals”. The BJP may be convinced that its has put together an infallible plan to ensure Narendra Modi takes over the next prime minister of the country, however the story appears to have just begun.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 05:36:54 +0000
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