New Delhi: Bhartiya Janata Party’s Senior leader LK Advani on Thursday decided to contest from Gandhinagar in Gujarat after the party gave in to his pressure and allowed him the choice of the constituency in the Lok Sabha elections.
The 86-year-old leader made the announcement shortly after party president Rajnath Singh issued a statement saying that it was for Advani to choose whether to contest from Gandhinagar or Bhopal, seeking to end a 24-hour drama that exposed the simmering tensions between him and Narendra Modi.
Singh informed him that the Madhya Pradesh unit of BJP had also suggested his name for contesting from Bhopal and that after consulting all colleagues in the Parliamentary Board and the Election Committee “it has been agreed that the choice between the two Parliamentary seats should be left to me.
“I am deeply touched by this gesture of my party colleagues. I had some weeks ago said that I would be contesting the Parliamentary election from Gandhinagar itself. I have been integrally connected with Gujarat since migrating from Karachi in 1947,” he said.
He said he was extremely grateful to Kailash Joshi, who represents Bhopal now, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, state party unit chief Narinder Singh Tomar and all members of the Election Committee of the state for proposing his name from Bhopal.
The settlement came after hectic discussions and meetings in the party. After Modi, senior leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu met Advani to placate him.
The Election Committee, headed by Rajnath Singh, yesterday decided to field Advani from Gandhinagar, angering him as he had desired to shift from Modi-ruled Gujarat to Bhopal, a reflection of his unease with the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate.
With a sulking Advani insisting on contesting from Bhopal instead of Gandhinagar, from where he had won five times, Rajnath Singh said in a statement this evening that he had “consulted the members of the Parliamentary Board and the Central Election Committee of the Party on this issue telephonically since most of the members are traveling in various parts of the country.
