Advani, the 85-year-old stalwart of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a former deputy prime minister, resigned from all his positions within the party. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
Advani, the 85-year-old stalwart of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a former deputy prime minister, resigned from all his positions within the party, the source said.
"He has submitted his resignation letter to the party chief," the source said on condition of anonymity.
The Press Trust of India reported that Advani, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate during the 2009 general elections, quit the party due to differences over its direction.
"Most BJP leaders are concerned just with their personal agendas," the news agency quoted Advani's resignation letter as saying.
The comment is an apparent criticism of Modi, who was chosen by the Hindu nationalist party Sunday to head its campaign for national elections due by next May.
Advani did not attend the meeting of the BJP's national executive in an apparent protest over Modi's elevation, although the official reason given was illness.
Advani, who mentored Modi and defended him against criticism that he failed to stop deadly anti-Muslim riots in 2002, is now opposed to the 62-year-old's rise, according to media reports.
His resignation highlights the difficult road ahead for Modi, a hardline Hindu nationalist, who will need to win the backing of other senior BJP members as well as the party's regional coalition partners before he can lay claim to the prime ministerial candidacy.
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One can go on bashing Advani, the 'Lauhapurush' (Iron man) as much as one likes; safe in the knowledge that the BJP trolls will keep quiet as they have got their 'Vikashpurush' (Development man) in Modi.
Good Riddance!
@Water Bottle: You are a cruel person! At what age you reckon he should retire? After death or at the age of 100 which ever comes first? Let the poor guy have some rest before he goes on a very long journey.
Rex Minor.
Today Vajpayeeji must be having a smile or two on his lips. Just after the Gujarata 2002 riot he reminded Modi of his obligation to protect the life and property of his people and invoked ‘Rajdharma’. He also advised his party (BJP) to ask Modi to resign from his post of Chief Minister of the state. The man who saved his skin that day is no other than the same Advani, who was the architect, contractor and supervisor of Babri episode. (Incidentally this man had the gal to say it on live TV interview that Babri incident was the saddest day of his life.) Since then he has defended Modi in every forum, from every accusation hurled at him (Modi) by his detractors, till the last Gujarata assembly election. I am not sure if it has got anything to do with Gandhinagar (what an irony in nominal coincidence) parliamentary constituency in Gujarata from where Advani has been elected for three consecutive terms up to the current one. He helped create a Frankenstein and finally been destroyed by it. There will be no tears shed for Advani today in or outside the BJP/RSS cabal, ‘cause a man who doesn’t stand for something, makes himself liable to fall for anything. Despite being closely associated with Vajpayee for close to half a century, it is obvious that he didn’t learn much about state craft or statesmanship. Hope Sushmas and Jaitleys will learn at some point in time, when they still have time.
@Pakistani: Because pakistan is subsidiary of india, HA AH HA RELAX BUDDY
@rohit950723: "We as a hindu go to temple, church, gurudwara & mazars also. In our home with hindu gods , Jesus is also there."
You brought a good point. Let me add further.
You will find Jesus (photo or statue) of Jesus in many homes. Many light candles also along with lamps. To Hindus, Jesus is "God", one of so many Gods, and not just "Son of God". As a family we visited Holy Shrine of Fatima in Portugal. We saw many hindu visitors there. We lighted candles. We have the "Eye of Fatima" in our home to ward off evils. When I was running a factory, one equipment used to malfunction frequently. I kept an "Eye of Fatima" necklace (that someone gave me just few days ago) on the equipment and everything changed. When hindu parents take their children to Church, they tell their children "Pray to God".
Muslims of Pakistan can never understand this.
@abc: I agree with your post directionally. But the riots had occurred in Feb 2002 not 2006. Gujarat has been riot free for the past 11 years.
@Arijit Sharma.:
"Heil Modi."
You are equating Modi to Hitler. This is shameful, unless your intention was to put down a genuine leader like Modi.
Thousands of the mosque are constructed every year. Go & enquire the fact. We as a hindu go to temple, church, gurudwara & mazars also. In our home with hindu gods , Jesus is also there. Please note India is secular & will remain secular & will lead world in next 100 years.
Heil Modi.
Advani's exit is good for Modi, good for India, good for all indians including hindus, muslims, sikhs and christians.
@just_someone: Ameen.....
Despite outside differences hardliners like Advani & Modi are two saffron peas in the same pod of Hindutva. In fact, Modi was an acolyte of Advani!! While Advani's antics at Ayodhya eventually brought BJP to power entire set of tragic episodes of mosque destruction, Bombay blasts, Gujarat-riots & consequent polarisation of Indian society can be traced back to the rabble-rousing, religiously frenzied Chariot-Pilgrimage (Rath Yatra) that Advani undertook in 1990s. In 2002 Advani was the Home Minister of India, responsible for inland security, when Gujarat burned.
It is pity that BJP portrays Lal Krishna Advani as soft liner politician, while he became famous for leading "Rath Yatras". He led the Hindu extremists who demolished Babari Masjid. He kept silent when his party's CM of Gujrat, Narinder Moodi carried out killings of Muslims in Mumbai.
@ just_someone: Totally wrong view. Not a single Muslim has been killed in Gujarat since those riots of 2006. Compare this to what is going on in beloved Pakistan everyday. I know from Indian Muslims what the truth is.
@Diggvijay Singh: Now the road is clear ahead for the youthful, dynamic and astute leader Mr. Rahul Gandhi to take over the reins of India and take the country forward towards its destiny. Good one! I think the apt internet slang for my reaction is closer to ROFL than LOL. @ Sympathetic Sindhis and others: You have short memories - Advani as the loh purush was the hardline face of the BJP during its days of exponential growth, and prime mover in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement that culminated in the destruction of the Babri structure; in comparison, Narendra Modi had been in charge of Gujarat for a couple of months in 2002 before the riots took place as a reaction to the Godhra train burning. The fact remains that Advani is now unable to draw crowds or to enthuse Hindutvavadis, and should have gradually taken a back seat in the party's interest. I am reasonably sure that this display of petulance was anticipated by the BJP leadership, and nothing much will come of it.
No one in India is indispensable,even Modi or Rahul for that matter. India is no more dependable on any individuals. Seniors and spent forces should make way for others
This could break Modi's chances of coming to power before he even starts his campaign. The message being sent to the masses is that the older leadership (Advani et co) have little faith in Modi to steer the party to power. Pity really considering the fact that Modi as a CM has been elected thrice and has shown the rest of India what good governance should look like !! I see that India is facing a test similar to that faced recently by Pakistan where the urban masses favoured Imran Khan who promised a 'Naya Pakistan' while the rural masses went for Nawaz Shareiff with his aam admi policies. India could definitely do with a efficient administrator like Modi but the key question would be to determine if the masses in states like UP, Bihar and Rajasthan vote for a no-nonsense straight talking guy (Modi) when they have historically been known to vote along caste based lines is a mystery only time will solve. Till then all bets are on if this courageous (some would say gamble) move paves off for the BJP. The urban masses in big cities and towns, small & bug businesses alike are backing Modi but their money will count for nothing in the rural heartland where the real battles are always fought.
end of an era
Why is this a headline in Pakistani newspaper? Its just an internal political news of India.
This is such a happy day for Indian politics! I predict this to be the end of the road for right-wing party BJP's election campaign. I quite agree with Shri L K Advani's comment that "most BJP leaders are concerned just with their personal agendas.” To be honest, he should include himself in that list. His greed of becoming Prime Minister took him down and thankfully he has sabotaged his party's election efforts. Now the road is clear ahead for the youthful, dynamic and astute leader Mr. Rahul Gandhi to take over the reins of India and take the country forward towards its destiny.
Advani sahab is a Sindhi like me. Good decision by him. We must stop facists from ruining the peace process between two children of same family i.e. Indians and Pakistanis.
This is unfortunate.
Advani is a very good leader. However, the power politics within BJP led to his resignation.
I'm all for Modi. But I do hope that he sheds his dictator-like posture if he gets to New Delhi. I also hope that if he gets to new delhi, he will bring strict discipline and crush the corruption at the top level.
I also hope that he draws out all the skeletons from the closet of the UPA government without indulging in any vendetta.
Corruption remains the main issue for Indians. Even more than the economy.
Glad to see that extremist parties break often!