With the BJP national executive meeting beginning on Friday morning for a two day session, questions over whether party patriarch L.K. Advani will deliver an address have put the party on the back foot.
The party evaded a direct response to repeated questions after reports that Mr. Advani was disinclined to address the gathering. BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain maintained that senior leaders like Mr. Advani will continue to “guide and bless” the party. “Advaniji will attend the meeting tomorrow. The party will receive guidance from all the senior leaders. They have been blessing us and we will continue to seek their guidance,” the party spokesperson said.
Sources said when Mr. Advani was approached by the party general secretary Ram Lal for scheduling his ‘guidance address’, the former party chief was reluctant. Mr Advani’s address has been a part of the proceedings since the party was formed in 1980. He has missed only one such meeting since he founded the party along with the likes of former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and former Party president M.M. Joshi. The three were moved from the party’s highest decision making body, the Parliamentary Board, in August last year and included in a ceremonial Guidance Council. The council has never met.
In May 2013, Mr. Advani expressed his displeasure over the party’s projection of Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial choice by staying away from the Goa national executive. The party had however gone ahead and elevated Mr. Modi as chairman of the campaign committee. Mr. Advani had followed that up with his resignation from “all party posts” two days after the announcement. He eventually withdrew his resignation after the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) intervened.
The national executive here will open with an address by party president Amit Shah, who chaired the meeting of office-bearers on Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the meet on Saturday, sources said.
