New Delhi:
LK Advani, senior BJP leader, has quit all posts in the party, a day after he was over-ruled and Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi was given a whopping promotion as the head of the party's election committee.
(Full coverage)BJP president Rajnath Singh called on Mr Advani at his residence in Delhi this afternoon in a failed attempt to appease him.
In his resignation letter, Mr 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."
(Read the full letter)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.
(Who said what)Mr Modi had tweeted yesterday, "Spoke to Advani
ji on the phone. He gave me his blessings." The cheery note was vastly unconvincing.
Mr Advani pointedly skipped the BJP conference in Goa which climaxed on Sunday with the announcement that Mr 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 Mr Modi's new role in the absence of Mr Advani, but a writ from the BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS, called for the dithering to end immediately, sources said.