BJP denies Advani rift; visits by A-listers indicate crisis

mangaloretoday.com/NDTV

New Delhi, March 20: The BJP this afternoon refuted a rift with LK Advani, its most senior leader, even as a stream of visitors from the party to the veteran’s house instagrammed a crisis.

One of those visitors, Venkaiah Naidu, promised "a happy ending."

So far, Mr Advani has not contributed to that forecast. He remains keen, sources said, on shifting his parliamentary constituency from Gandhinagar in Gujarat to Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

 

A house call from Narendra Modi, the party’s prime ministerial candidate, asked him to change his mind.

Yesterday, at a meeting of top BJP leaders in Delhi, the party decided that it would "prefer" for Mr Advani to remain in Gandhinagar. But he resisted the pressure, pointing out that he should be allowed to relocate to Bhopal, given that Mr Modi and BJP chief Rajnath Singh have been granted their first choices. (BJP leaders meet Advani over Gandhinagar row: 10 developments)

Mr Modi, 64, has governed Gujarat for more than 10 years.  An exit by Mr Advani from the state would reflect poorly on the prime ministerial candidate, the BJP felt.  Mr Advani’s supporters, on the other hand, worried that he would be punished by BJP workers in Gujarat for publicly challenging the party last year when it made Mr Modi its presumptive prime minister.

Mr Advani was reportedly told that was an invalid concern, and that Mr Modi and his supporters would help him to win the election.

Mr Advani’s interest in swapping Gandhinagar for Bhopal reflected two political complexities for his party: it upended the continuing fractious relationship he tenants with Mr Modi, and it telegraphed his proximity to Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, a leader who he backed as an option to Mr Modi for the prime ministerial nomination.