New Delhi, February 22: Senior BJP leader L K Advani was elected unopposed as the working chairman of NDA till incumbent Atal Bihari Vajpayee recovers from ill-health while Acting NDA Convenor Sharad Yadav has been elected as the Convenor.
“In a meeting of NDA floor leaders in both Houses of Parliament here today evening, Yadav wished speedy recovery to Vajpayee and moved a resolution proposing the name of Advani as Working Chairman of the BJP-led NDA coalition,” BJP Deputy leader in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia said.
The proposal was seconded by Manohar Joshi (Shiv Sena), Naresh Gujral (Shiromani Akali Dal) and BJP President Nitin Gadkari. It was endorsed unanimously by all those who were present at the meeting.
Vajpayee will continue as the NDA Chairman.
In another resolution moved by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, it was proposed that Sharad Yadav, President of JD(U) be made the convenor of NDA. This was seconded by Joshi, Gujral and Gadkari.
While former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who is refusing to take the post of national general secretary offered to her as she feels it will lessen her hold on her state, has the BJP top brass mulling over disciplinary action against her and her team.
The party is thinking of suspending some senior leaders close to Raje to send her a message that she should fall in line and work at the national level, BJP sources said. Raje kept away from the National Executive and Council meetings of the party in Indore though she sent some of her emissaries to discuss her case with the BJP top brass. Her son and BJP MP from Jhalawar Dushyant Singh was present.
Raje’s reported excuse that she had to attend to an old relative was too flimsy a reason for the top leaders to accept though publicly they were forced to give the same reason for her absence.
Though Raje’s supporters from Rajasthan reportedly did not get an audience with BJP President Nitin Gadkari, they did convey to the top leadership that it was best if she continued as Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly.
Gadkari had offered Raje the post of general secretary in his team. However, now that Raje is expressing her reluctance, Gadkari would be in an embarrassing position.
“Raje told the leadership that after losing the last assembly elections in December 2008, she does not want to run away to the Centre as that may affect her credibility and hold over the state.
“She feels in Delhi she will just be one of the several leaders,” a senior leader said.
BJP Central leadership will have to take a call on the issue at the earliest as the Assembly session begins in Rajasthan and Raje’s resignation from post of Leader of Opposition has still not been submitted to the Speaker.
Moreover, Gadkari is set to announce his team by February-end and cannot wait endlessly for Raje to agree.
-PTI