Lal Krishna Advani, one of the founding members of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), resigned from all party positions Monday, a day after he was overruled and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was given a whopping promotion as the head of the party's election committee.
BJP President Rajnath Singh called on Advani at his residence in Delhi yesterday afternoon in a failed attempt to appease him.
Advani, the most senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, stepped away to show his opposition to the elevation of Narendra Modi, now likely the party's choice for prime minister if it wins in 2014.
In his resignation letter, Advani writes: “For some time, I have been finding it difficult to reconcile either with the current functioning of the party, or the direction in which it is going... most leaders of ours are now concerned just with their personal agendas.”
The 85-year-old has resigned as a member of the BJP's parliamentary board which has 12 members; its national executive; and its election committee.
Modi had tweeted on Sunday: "Spoke to Advaniji on the phone. He gave me his blessings." The cheery note was vastly unconvincing.
Advani, along with several top BJP leaders, pointedly skipped the BJP conference in Goa which climaxed on Sunday with the announcement that Modi will lead its election committee, effectively making him the face of the party's campaign for the national election.
The party president was reportedly worried about going public with Modi's new role in the absence of Advani, but a writ from the BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), called for the dithering to end immediately, sources said.
Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat state, is accused of doing little to stop anti-Muslim riots in the state in 2002 which left more than 1,000 dead. While he was never charged with a crime, Modi's critics say he did little to stop the three months of rioting.