The Hindu : National : Advani to stay as Leader of the Opposition

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

Advani to stay as Leader of the Opposition

Neena Vyas

He earlier requested the BJP to elect a new leader; has been asked by BJP to stay till year-end

— Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

BJP president Rajnath Singh (second from right) with senior leaders L.K. Advani, Jaswant Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi at the party leaders’ meeting, in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani has “agreed not to persist with the suggestion” he made earlier that he did not want to continue in the position of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

A terse statement to this effect was made by BJP president Rajnath Singh soon after a meeting of the party’s parliamentary board, general secretaries and Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled States here on Monday. Mr. Singh noted that on May 16, even as the results of the election were pouring in, Mr. Advani requested the party to elect a new leader of its parliamentary group in the 15th Lok Sabha. Members of the parliamentary board who later met on Saturday did not agree with his suggestion and it was decided that Mr. Singh would persuade Mr. Advani to reconsider. The “reconsideration” was apparently done successfully on Monday.

However, Mr. Advani, it seems, has been given only a short reprieve as he has been asked to continue as Leader of Opposition only “for now,” roughly till the end of the year when the current tenure of Rajnath Singh as BJP president comes to an end. He will be shortly elected leader of the new parliamentary party.

This decision was taken on Sunday after three senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leaders — general secretary ‘sarkaryawah’ Suresh Joshi and two others, Suresh Soni and Madan Das Devi — met Mr. Advani at his residence that Mr. Advani should continue “for now.”

On Monday, an RSS functionary told The Hindu: “We want Mr. Advani to continue for now — roughly you can say till the end of the year — in the interest of a smooth transition of power.” He explained that changes could be made at the end of the year “when the current term of the party president Rajnath Singh will also come to an end.” The view was that instead of making changes piecemeal, the party, in consultation with the RSS, should arrive at a conclusion as to who should be president after January 2010 and who should take responsibility as Leader of the Opposition.

It was learnt from BJP sources that a move could be made to amend the party constitution to allow two consecutive three-year terms to a president. If that was done, Mr. Rajnath Singh may well continue in his current position for three years beyond January 2010. Once there is clarity about the tenure of the president, by the year-end the RSS would consider a new face for Leader of the Opposition. One thing is clear: the BJP must have a leader from Uttar Pradesh in at least one of the two positions of President and Leader of Opposition. And there are only two senior leaders from U.P. — Rajnath Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi — and both enjoy the trust of the RSS.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National