December deadline set for Advani exit

A December deadline has been set for LK Advani to step down as leader of the opposition.

The formula to resolve the BJP’s crisis seems to be along lines suggested by MP Arun Shourie: bomb the headquarters.

The plan, worked out by the RSS after consultations with sections of the BJP leadership, envisages a major change in top leadership, according to sources.

The sources said Advani is likely to step down before the winter session of Parliament. The RSS had earlier indicated that the change should be effected by the year-end. An ‘advisory committee’ consisting of senior party leaders like Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi is likely to be formed to accommodate them as guardians of the party.

The BJP announced that its president Rajnath Singh will not get another term, as per the party constitution. The RSS is still deciding on who will head the party after him. The sources said it is likely that it will be a new face rather than anyone among Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar, who were called by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for a meeting on Friday night. But some feel Swaraj could be the choice for party chief. Jaitley will continue as leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, while Swaraj is likely to be elevated as leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.

The developments come after three days of parleys between the RSS and BJP brass. RSS leaders, including Bhagwat, Suresh Joshi, Suresh Soni and Madandas Devi, are in Delhi to sort out the mess in the BJP.

Bhagwat, Devi and Soni had a breakfast meeting with Advani on Sunday. Devi said after the meeting that he was confident the BJP would resolve its problems. Advani and Bhagwat had earlier met on Saturday afternoon for about one-and-a-half hours at the RSS headquarters in Delhi.

Party games
RSS leaders met LK Advani in Delhi on Sunday morning and said the BJP would emerge out of the turmoil following Jaswant Singh’s expulsion

BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said in New Delhi that prime minister Manmohan Singh should focus on the prospect of drought in the country and price rise rather than worry about the party’s matters

The BJP is imploding, said Jaswant Singh, who added that the party he was associated with for 30 years was demonstrating lack of confidence with each passing day and has suddenly been robbed of reasoning

Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje arrived in New Delhi on Sunday evening to meet senior BJP leaders

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury said in Hyderabad that the BJP was the political arm of the RSS and followed its directions