FRONT PAGE | Tuesday, May 19, 2009 | Email | Print | 
Advani bows to pressure, to stay on as Opp leader
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
Under pressure from the party and Sangh Parivar, senior BJP leader LK Advani has agreed to continue as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, putting a full stop on search for his replacement.
Party president Rajnath Singh confirmed the development, saying Advani had agreed to continue as leader of the party’s parliamentary board. “Therefore, it is understood he will also be the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha,” he said.
After one of the worst defeats for the BJP in the just-concluded election, Advani had expressed willingness to step down and suggested that the party choose a new leader. “The parliamentary board had that day itself not agreed with Advani’s request despite his insistence. It was decided that the party president would discuss the issue with Advani and convince him to reconsider his view,” the party stated.
Accordingly, Rajnath informed the meeting of party leaders on Monday that the BJP needed the leadership and guidance of Advani and requested him to agree to be the leader of the party in the new Lok Sabha. “The party has suffered a setback in the Lok Sabha elections. It needs to rebuild itself to meet the challenges of the future. At this point, Advani agreed not to persist with his suggestion,” Rajnath said.
Unconfirmed reports say that even the RSS had suggested to Advani against pressing hard for stepping down immediately since it could lead to infighting among the second-generation leaders to step into the veteran’s shoes. Senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi had already thrown his hat into the ring, saying he was ready to take up the job. The names of Sushma Swaraj, Jaswant Singh and a few others were also doing the rounds.
Meanwhile, several BJP leaders gathered at Advani’s residence in the morning to discuss the reasons for the election debacle. Chief Ministers BC Khanduri of Uttarakhand, PK Dhumal of Himachal Pradesh, Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh, BS Yeddyurappa of Karnataka and Sushil Kumar Modi, the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, attended the meet. Modi did not turn up.
They briefed Advani and other leaders about the performance of the party and reasons why the party did not fare according to expectations. The BJP, which was hoping to form the Government at the Centre along with its NDA allies, could muster 116 seats in the House of 543, while its NDA allies bagged 43 seats.
The NDA also received initial jolts, with reports coming in that Ajit Singh of the Rashtriya Lok Dal discussed with Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh the possibilities of joining the UPA and the Government. Throughout the day, BJP leaders tried to contact Ajit, but he remained “out of range”. It was perhaps this fear of cracks in the NDA becoming visible that the BJP leaders decided to call off the proposed meeting of the alliance on Monday evening.
The JD(U), Shiv Sena, INLD, RLD, AGP and TRS leaders were expected to be present for the meeting, called to deliberate upon the poll reverses for the alliance and the course of action.
The alliance’s acting convener Sharad Yadav said some leaders were not available and Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal also requested for postponing the meeting because of his pre-occupation.
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