Even as Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to be eyeing the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat besides Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch L.K. Advani has expressed his willingness to seek re-election from Gandhinagar.
Mr.Advani, who is a five-time Member of Parliament from Gandhinagar that also comprises some areas of Ahmedabad, told a section of the media here on Saturday that, “The first list of the BJP candidates does not include my name but I am keen to contest from Gandhinagar. However, the party would take the final decision.”
He said his choice of a constituency would be in Kutch district since he and his family shifted to the desert district after migrating from Pakistan but since it was a reserved seat he would prefer to contest from Gandhinagar.
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Mr. Advani was elected from Gandhinagar in 1991, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009. Former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee was also elected once from Gandhinagar in 1996.
Informed sources told The Hindu that Mr. Advani’s wish to contest again from Gandhinagar clashes with Mr. Modi’s plan to seek election from the State capital, besides Varanasi. However, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who is an MP from Varanasi, is learnt to have expressed his reluctance to vacate the seat for Mr. Modi.
Mr. Advani had resigned from all party posts in protest against the appointment of Mr. Modi as chairman of the election committee, but later withdrew it.
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