Vajpayee's statement on comeback confusing
New
Delhi/Bhopal,
Sep
22:
With
former
Prime
Minister
Atal
Bihari
Vajpayee
opting
out
of
the
Bharatiya
Janata
Party"s
national
executive
meet
citing
health
reasons,
party"s
veteran
L
K
Advani
was
all
set
to
take
the
lead,
but
the
former"s
recent
open
letter
to
his
party
men
has
once
again
put
the
issue
of
party
leadership
in
deep
freeze.
''My health is improving. I regret not being able to attend the meeting, but I am recovering and I will be back soon among all of you," said Vajpayee in his open letter, which is likely to put any possible change of guard on hold for the time being.
Before this letter came to the fore, some senior party leaders, who have gathered in Bhopal, were trying their best to project Advani as their leader.
Jaswant Singh, a Vajpayee confidante, said, "For years, Vajpayee has been our supreme leader, and Advani has been his right hand man. This has been the case for 50 years."
This indicates that after Vajpayee, it is Advani who could lead the party.
However, reacting to this letter, party president Rajnath Singh"s supporters, who were feeling isolated with the name of Advani coming ahead as Prime Ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha polls, are arguing that Vajpayee"s message does not indicate anointing of a successor, and that it could also mean that a younger leader could be considered.
Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad has refused to analyse Vajpayee's message, saying "both Atalji and Advaniji are our tallest leaders," and that the appropriate time to take a decision on BJP's prime ministerial candidate has not yet come.
Now, it"s time for 'wait and watch" till the outcome of the executive meet on the leadership issue.
ANI>