New Delhi, September 11; Bharatiya Janata Party chief Rajnath Singh on Wednesday met senior party leader L K Advani in a bid to convince him on Narendra Modi’s candidature as the party’s Prime Ministerial nominee ahead of the next general election, but appears to have got no assurance of his support on the issue.
The BJP president had a 30-minute meeting at Mr. Advani’s residence on Wednesday afternoon on the issue which the Parliamentary Party chief is opposed to. Mr. Advani had announced his resignation from all party posts immediately after Mr. Modi was anointed as head of the party’s election Campaign Committee, but was advised by the Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh to withdraw it.
However, indications are that Mr. Singh’s efforts in convincing Mr. Advani on Mr. Modi’s candidature have not borne fruit as the BJP patriarch has not given any assurance on it.
While stepping up efforts on the issue of announcing Mr. Modi’s name, former BJP president Nitin Gadkari had met Mr. Advani as an emissary of RSS on Tuesday. Mr. Gadkari left for Nagpur on Tuesday to convey Mr. Advani’s thinking to RSS, which has its headquarters there.
Mr. Gadkari visited Advani at his residence here and held a short meeting with the senior leader to convince him on Mr. Modi’s name and agree to a date for convening a meeting of the Parliamentary Board before September 17, party sources said.
Mr. Advani, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, and Murli Manohar Joshi reportedly have reservations on declaring Modi as the PM candidate before the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Mizoram.
