Bengaluru: The two-day national executive of BJP commencing here on Friday will witness a marked departure from accepted practice for the first time, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to replace patriarch L. K. Advani as the leader who will deliver the valedictory address on Saturday.
Declining to divulge the reasons for Mr Advani’s name not figuring on the programme list for the valedictory, party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told the media on Thursday that all senior leaders were guiding the party.
“We need their guidance all the time. Advaniji (who reportedly arrived in the city on Thursday night) will attend the meeting tomorrow. The party will receive guidance from all senior leaders. They have been blessing us and we will continue to seek their guidance. In this meeting, Prime Minister Modi will deliver the valedictory address,” he said in response to several questions on the shift in the party tradition.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives for BJP National Executive Meet at Lalit Ashok; heavy security outside the venue, in Bengaluru on Thursday (Photo: DC)
In 2013, Mr Advani had skipped the national executive held in Goa in June 2013, as he was upset over moves to project Mr. Narendra Modi as the party’s Campaign Committee chief for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
A day after the national executive, he quit all party positions but was persuaded to withdraw his resignation.
Mr Hussain said meanwhile that party president Amit Shah, who inaugurated a meeting of the office bearers earlier in the day, expressed his happiness over the response to the membership drive across the country.
The membership figure has crossed the 10 crore mark, thus surpassing that of Communist Party of China as an entity with the highest membership. The party managed to make inroads in north-eastern and southern states during the membership drive, but the deadline was extended till the end of the month.
All party workers would be trained to communicate to people about all achievements of the BJP-led NDA government, he added.
