Elections 2014: Advani wants to contest from Bhopal, Narendra Modi gives him Gandhinagar
New Delhi: The BJP on Wednesday night decided to field L.K. Advani from his Gandhinagar constituency in Gujarat, overruling his desire to shift to Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh reflecting the tensions between him and Narendra Modi.
Narendra Modi, the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, himself will contest from a second seat – Vadodara in Gujarat – apart from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Hectic discussions preceded the decision on Advani at the day-long meeting of the BJP Central Election Committee from which the 86-year-old party patriarch kept away, citing reasons that he did not want to be part of confabulations involving his constituency.
Advani had conveyed to party president Rajnath Singh that he wanted to shift to Bhopal from Gandhinagar which he has represented five times in the Lok Sabha. It was not clear whether Advani had consented to the party decision. Late night, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari went to his residence in a bid to persuade him to accept Gandhinagar. Advani had insisted that he should have the right to choose his constituency like many other leaders who have been allocated their preferred seats, sources said.
Ever since the elevation of Modi in the party hierarchy, Advani has been sulking and his desire to shift from Gandhinagar is seen as a reflection of the unease in his relationship with Modi. At the meeting, Modi is believed to have insisted that Advani should contest again from Gandhinagar, lest a message went that all is not well in the party.
Advani has represented Gandhinagar in the 10th Lok Sabha (1991-96), 12th Lok Sabha (1998-99), 13th Lok Sabha (1999-2004), 14th Lok Sabha (2004-09) and the current 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14). Mr Advani's strained relationship with Narendra Modi has dipped at the time and though he has in recent speeches endorsed Mr Modi, he is worried about how much support he will get from local party workers in Gujarat.
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Meanwhile Union minister Anand Sharma said he was willing to take on BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat. “Definitely. I will pack my bags and leave tomorrow for Varanasi if so desired by the (Congress) party,” Mr Anand Sharma said when asked if he would consider fighting Mr Modi in the elections.
