Advani says will serve his full term as Leader of Opposition

New Delhi, Aug.13 (ANI): Leader of Opposition L.K.Advani has said that he will complete his full five-year term, and has dismissed media reports of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) asking him to work towards nominating a successor.

"I still stand by what I had said at the press conference [at the end of the session last week]. If I accept something reluctantly then I cannot contribute my best to it," Advani was quoted as saying by a news agency and the rediff.com web site on Wednesday when asked whether RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had suggested that Advani chose his successor in the near future.

It maybe recalled that Advani had told an August 8 press conference that it was out of his own volition that he had accepted the post of Leader of Opposition.

The RSS has also said that both Advani and Bhagwat are capable of taking decisions on their own, and that the parent body of the BJP has nothing to do with it.

The BJP has said that there is no need for it to comment on the succession issue.

Advani said he had told party leaders soon after this year's general elections that he would not take any post, but added that agreed to continue as Leader of Opposition at the insistence of the core group.

He told rediff that he was surprised by a report in a section of media that Bhawat was reportedly upset about his decision to continue as Leader of Opposition.

He said that during his one-to-one interaction over lunch with Bhagwat on Monday, the succession issue did not come up. Rather, he (Advani) told Bhagwat about the BJP's fine performance during the parliament session.

The BJP leadership issue could dominate the Sangh Parivar's Chintan Baithak (brainstorming session) that is to take place in Simla from next week. (ANI)