Venkaiah Naidu says Advani may not lead BJP in 2014 elections

New Delhi, Oct 8 (ANI): Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president M Venkaiah Naidu said on Thursday that, the party may not contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of L K Advani.

In an interview to a private news channel, Naidu however maintained silence over the possible leader who can lead the party five years down the line.

He also agreed that it would be logical for the party to get a new leadership at that juncture.

Naidu also hinted that, Advani might not contest the next general elections and said that the change of guard would take place a couple of years before the polls.

Naidu, who is representing Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, said Advani had been chosen as the Leader of Opposition by party for the 15th Lok Sabha and it was for him to decide when to step down and added that it's for Advani to choose to whom he has to hand over the guard.

He also defended the party's decision to continue Advani as head of the BJP parliamentary party, though the latter was reluctant to accept and had to be persuaded.

Confirming the media reports over Advani's opposition to Jaswant Singh's expulsion from the party and revealed that Advani asked the parliamentary party to think of any other alternative action than the expulsion.

However, Naidu maintained the final decision was unanimous and said it was a painful decision as Singh had been with the party for over 30 years.

Naidu, who is considered as one of the close associates of Advani said his leader, had not suffered any image loss at all in the last few months, which have witnessed several controversies within the party.

Commenting on Arun Shourie's recent outburst against Advani and party president Rajnath Singh through a series of newspaper articles, Naidu hinted action might be initiated after the assembly polls in three states.

Commenting on stepping down of Vasundhara Raje as Leader of the Opposition of the Rajasthan Assembly Naidu expressed confidence that Raje would abide by party decision. (ANI)