Leader of Opposition L K Advani is upset with the developments in the Bharatiya Janata Party, on the event of the national executive to be held in New Delhi shortly.
Gadkari has been called to New Delhi for the meeting and will be anointed party chief. The decision will be ratified by the BJP national council. The elevation of Swaraj as Leader of Opposition is almost a certainty, sources said.
On party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi's remarks in Rampur on Saturday that the second-generation leadership would lead the party in the next elections, he said there was nothing unusual about his statement.
Senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra parried questions about the party's stand on Advani's comments, saying any decision in this regard would be made only after the telecast of the interview by the television channel.
On the eve of the BJP's National Executive in Bengaluru, questions arose over whether party stalwart L K Advani will address the two-day conclave.
He will meet Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf when the general visits New Delhi to watch the Indo-Pak one-dayer on April 17.
The RSS has been at loggerheads with Advani ever since he praised Jinnah as a secular leader during his recent Pakistan visit.
"Will Advani continue to remain the leader of the opposition?" It was the first question hurled at Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Arun Jaitley at his final press conference of the day on May 16 at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.
An upset Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is understood to have on Wednesday conveyed his displeasure to senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani about the opposition allegedly not being allowed to speak on important issues in Parliament.
Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh Assembly Ajay Singh on Wednesday criticised senior Bharatiya Janata Party member L K Advani for his remarks that the state is heading towards 'Ram Rajya', saying that the BJP leader's words were an 'insult' to Lord Ram as the crime graph is climbing up in the state.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Wednesday said its volunteers will "actively participate" in Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani's proposed yatra against corruption. "The Sangh has already asked its swayamsevaks (volunteers) to actively support all initiatives and actions against corruption. They had earlier extended support to Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare in their campaigns against corruption," RSS leader Ram Madhav told reporters.
Special Judge SK Yadav also fixed July 23 for recording the statement of BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi through video conferencing.
The Delhi police on Saturday opposed the bail pleas of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's former aide Sudheendra Kulkarni and two former Members of Parliament of the party, arrested for their alleged roles in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam, questioning their claim of being whistle-blowers. "Every accused in the case terms himself as a whistle-blower as if they have saved the country," said the public prosecutor.
Uma Bharti has blasted party leaders for not supporting her in the row with Advani.
The BJP leader will travel in a converted bus on his latest yatra.
The RSS, which has been building pressure on BJP to end its internal bickerings and is favouring younger leadership, feels it was a blunder to project Advani as BJP's prime ministerial candidate and making the party's poll campaign Advani-centric.
Sending a strong message that the Bharatiya Janata Party was firmly behind jailed Amit Shah, the party's senior leader L K Advani went to Sabarmati prison to meet the former Gujarat minister who is an accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter killing case.
Opposition Congress on Wednesday demanded that Bharatiya Janata Party senior leader L K Advani focus on "corruption" in his party ruled Karnataka during his three-day 'Jan Chetana Yatra' in the state, beginning October 30.
Former Union minister and Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party strongman Madan Lal Khurana Monday accused party chief Rajnath Singh of working under the influence of a "coterie" close to senior leader Lal Kishenchand Advani.
After throwing a virtual challenge to the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani by stating that he may contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on Thursday sprang a surprise when he visited the former for a luncheon meet. "Shekhawat visited Advani at his residence today and spent about two hours with him. He also had lunch with the senior leader," informed a source close to Advani.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, who shares a warm relation with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar notwithstanding the severing of ties with the Janata Dal-United, will skip the party's October 27 rally.
Taking strong objection to Gandhi's remarks, Swaraj tweeted: "Rahulji - Advani ji is our father figure. Your words have hurt us deeply. Please try to maintain some decorum of your speech."
Making official what was behind the scenes so far, a senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader on Sunday said Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani had been conveyed the Surat conclave feeling that he should make way for someone els
The issue of whether he was still in the race for Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate figured on Tuesday at the 85th birthday celebrations of L K Advani who turned emotional as party colleagues praised him for his leadership.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday described as "unfortunate" and in "bad taste" remarks made by Congress leader Saif-ud-Din Soz against L K Advani.
The firebrand sanyasin urged Advani not to create a Fiji like situation where a new president was installed after taking some people hostage in Parliament. She also threatened to keep writing letters to him.
Bharatiya Janata Party's internal problems showed no signs of ebbing with senior leader L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj on Friday skipping a public meeting in Mumbai as Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi appeared to be strengthening his grip over it.
Advani is unhappy with the manner in which the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has dominated the show behind the scene to insist on Nitin Gadkari setting a second tenure as the party president.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held a one-on-one meeting with senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, with whom he is not on the best of terms since the party patriarch opposed his elevation as poll campaign head.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday stepped up efforts to rescue the Bharatiya Janata Party from its current crisis, by possibly discussing a road map ahead, as he held hectic parleys with L K Advani and top leaders including Murli Manohar Joshi.There were indications that the BJP could come out with some statement on Sunday but Sangh Parivar sources said nothing spectacular could be expected.
Agitated over the police action against protesting Bharatiya Janata Party youth wing activists in New Delhi on Tuesday, senior BJP leader L K Advani on Wednesday complained to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that the orders seem to have come directly from Home Minister P Chidambaram.
Advani and Rajnath Singh will simultaneously conduct the yatra.
Despite a new found bonhomie between Narendra Modi and Nitin Gadkari, differences in the Bharatiya Janata Party seem to be far from over at its national executive meeting in Mumbai on Friday with leaders L K Advani and Sushama Swaraj set to stay away from a rally scheduled for evening.
'Shibu Soren was the tallest leader of tribals in the country.'
As the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh mounted pressure on Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani to resign, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Sunday came out in support of Advani, saying he could continue in both posts.