NEW DELHI – BJP stalwart L K Advani has dug in his heels. He refused to drop his opposition to Narendra Modi as the party’s prime ministerial nominee, leaving party president Rajnath Singh with little choice but to push on regardless of the veteran’s objections. This will undoubtedly cast a shadow of controversy over Modi’s anointment and show up BJP as a divided house.
The BJP president on Wednesday cited RSS’s endorsement of Modi as well as the majority opinion in the party to tell Advani that Modi should be declared the PM candidate without any further delay. But Advani, said sources, remained unmoved. He had earlier objected to Modi as the saffron choice for the top job on the ground that an announcement now would shift the focus from Congress’s failures to Modi’s controversial persona.
Fresh efforts to bring Advani around are expected to continue on Thursday, although hopes of a breakthrough remain slender. With Advani unlikely to yield, Rajnath looks almost set to call a meeting of the party’s parliamentary board on Friday to make the announcement. Although the party constitution empowers the president to make the crucial call after consultation with members of the parliamentary board, Rajnath is likely to call the full house to advertise that the decision has the backing of the majority in the board — that is, eight of 11 members (excluding ailing former PM A B Vajpayee).
Sources said that Rajnath can put off the announcement to Monday only if Advani agrees to be present at the press conference — which at present seems an unlikely prospect.
