Backing L.K. Advani, former Union Minister Jaswant Singh on Tuesday said a solution should be found to the questions raised by the BJP patriarch soon in the interest of the party as well as the nation.
Mr. Singh, who is a close associate of Mr. Advani, also expressed hope that a solution will be found when asked whether Mr. Advani will reconsider his decision to quit.
“A solution should be found soon to the questions raised by Advani ji. This is in the interest of the party. This is in the interest of the nation,” Mr. Singh said after meeting Mr. Advani here.
Taken aback by Mr. Advani’s resignation from all party posts, BJP leaders on Tuesday said they will persuade him to reconsider it and were hopeful that he will do so.
Mr. Singh also maintained that efforts are on to persuade Mr. Advani to take back his resignation. “I am hopeful that a solution will be found out,” he said.
Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, who also met Mr. Advani, said the question of Mr. Advani’s resignation does not arise once it has been rejected by the party’s highest decision-making body.
“The question of resignation does not arise once we have rejected it,” Ms. Swaraj, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, who is considered close to Mr. Advani, told reporters here.
Asked whether the BJP veteran would withdraw his resignation, Ms. Swaraj said, “Where is the question of taking it back. There is no resignation once the Parliamentary Board has rejected it.”
BJP plunged into a crisis on Monday after the BJP patriarch quit from three main party posts — Parliamentary Board, National Executive and the Election Committee.
The BJP Parliamentary Board, which met on Monday, passed a resolution describing Mr. Advani as its “leader and guide“.
In Nagpur, former BJP President Nitin Gadkari said the party needs the guidance of a veteran leader like Advani at this juncture. “We will pray to him to reconsider and I am confident he will take back his resignation,” Mr. Gadkari said.
