Suspense on Advani’s Seat-BJP insists on Gandhinagar, he prefers Bhopal

Agencies

New Delhi, 20 March 2014: BJP appeared to be bracing for fresh turmoil in the run-up to Lok Sabha polls after L K Advani expressed disinclination to seek re-election from Gandhinagar in Narendra Modi-ruled Gujarat.

 

Although the central leadership turned down the request and sought to put a lid on the matter by announcing Advani’s candidature from Gandhinagar, the party leadership was keeping its fingers crossed. According to late-night reports, Advani has indicated that he would rather wait for the party central election committee to respond to his request to contest from Bhopal.

 

Advani’s desire, conveyed to BJP chief Rajnath Singh on Monday, to switch constituencies came as a surprise to the party because of his consistent public stand that he would fight only from Gandhinagar: the constituency which he has won since 1991. He had stated this as recently as on February 28 when the party announced its first list of candidates.

 

The decision of the central election committee came after day-long drama that seemed to bring to the fore the bitter resistance of a section in BJP to Modi’s leadership. The saffron senior kept away from the deliberations on the ground that his candidature was under discussion even as reports swirled through the day about his reluctance to contest from Gandhinagar.

 

 

After the committee’s meeting, senior leaders Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari met Advani to convey the party’s decision. General secretary Thawarchand Gehlot soon announced the decision to signal that the nomination for Gandhinagar, so far as the leadership is concerned, was a closed chapter.

 

Until about a fortnight back, Advani was keen to continue representing Gandhinagar — a seat he has won five times — and had even made public statements to the effect. However, he seemed to have developed a fear in recent days that he may not get the wholehearted support of BJP cadre in the constituency as he had opposed the rise of Modi on the national stage last year.

 

Madhya Pradesh is ruled by Advani loyalist Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Advani is believed to have told party chief Rajnath Singh Tuesday about his desire to move to Bhopal.

 

The issue was taken up Wednesday by the BJP parliamentary board that met ahead of the CEC. Sources said Advani’s desire to move from Gandhinagar was raised during the meeting but Modi was learnt to have shot down the suggestion saying the Gujarat

BJP unit had unanimously recommended Advani’s name for Gandhinagar.

 

Advani had first opposed Modi being named the party’s chief campaigner for the Lok Sabha elections and subsequently its prime ministerial candidate. He had for the first time skipped the party’s national executive in Goa and had also offered to quit all party posts before he was brought around with the help of the RSS.

 

On Wednesday, he went into a sulk again and skipped the marathon central election committee meeting that approved 67 candidates. However, top party leaders did not seem to be in a mood to give in and went ahead and announced his name for Gandhinagar.