The Hindu : National : Advani, Sudarshan likely to meet soon

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Thursday, Nov 17, 2005

National

National

Advani, Sudarshan likely to meet soon

Neena Vyas

An opportunity to discuss change of guard

NEW DELHI: With the campaign for the Bihar Assembly elections reaching its conclusion, the countdown for selecting a new Bharatiya Janata Party president is expected to begin. A meeting between outgoing BJP president L.K. Advani and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief K.S. Sudarshan could take place as early as Friday.

RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav was tight-lipped on the matter but did not rule out a meeting on Friday since both the leaders would be in town. He pointed out that Mr. Sudarshan would go to Assam and the northeast on Saturday and would not reach Nagpur till mid-December. When repeatedly queried by reporters, Mr. Madhav said: "I do not rule out a meeting between Mr. Advani and Mr. Sudarshan on Saturday."

The RSS is currently engaged in holding a meeting on relief for the quake-affected people in Kashmir. The meeting started on Wednesday and will go on till Thursday. BJP general secretary Sanjay Joshi will attend the meeting, to be chaired by senior RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat. It is more than possible that the two will also get an opportunity to discuss the change of guard expected to take place in the BJP at the end of the year when Mr. Advani has said he will demit the office of party president.

This morning, BJP vice-president Venkaiah Naidu met Mr. Bhagwat and RSS office-bearer in charge of the BJP Suresh Soni. The 45-minute meeting, according to Mr. Naidu, was not related to the change of leadership in the BJP but matters of "national concern" were discussed. In fact, RSS insiders ruled out discussions on leadership change with individual second-rung leaders of the BJP. Those discussions would take place within the BJP and finally there would be consultations with the RSS.

The RSS has apparently taken note of Mr. Advani's remarks on Tuesday at the Leadership Summit here that he stood by his Jinnah remarks in Pakistan. The remarks had started a raging controversy in the Sangh Parivar, leading to abreak in of communication between the heads of the BJP and the RSS. At that time, the RSS had wanted Mr. Advani to review his stand on Jinnah.

However, since the June-July standoff on a few occasions the two have spoken to each other. Mr. Sudarshan reportedly called Mr. Advani to wish him on his birthday earlier this month and they also exchanged Diwali greetings. On Friday, both are expected as guests at a wedding of a former RSS pracharak and that offers another occasion for melting of ice between them.

It seems that despite some reports to the contrary, the "timetable" for a change of guard in the BJP will be maintained.

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