Advani kept in the dark

Advani

An “appropriate decision at an appropriate time” will be taken by the BJP on the role of party veteran L.K. Advani, former party chief Nitin Gadkari said Wednesday.

Gadkari, along with party president Rajnath Singh and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, will meet prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar Wednesday afternoon to discuss the post poll scenario.

Asked about the role for Advani, one of the founder members of the party, Gadkari said: “Atal (Bihari Vajpayee) and Advani are our founder members, our most senior leaders. The party’s parliamentary board will take an appropriate decision at an appropriate time.”

“Rajnath (Singh) is our party president, (Narendra) Modi is our prime ministerial candidate, but the guidance of Advani is very important,” he said.

Sources said the Bharatiya Janata Party has been pondering over what role to assign to Advani and senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi, both decades senior to Modi.

Asked if talks are being held with NDA allies over government formation, Gadkari said: “There are no talks with the NDA (allies) yet. We have not discussed anything and have not even thought about it.”

He said the party is “confident of a majority” and those who wanted to support it are “welcome”.

Gadkari later met Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who has been largely keeping to herself.