Advani for PM? BJP a divided camp | 'He's not a leader'

HERO NO MORE? Advani's prime ministerial ambitions don’t fit with many in the NDA.

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Keywords: bjp, mid-term polls

New Delhi: With all the tension between the Left and the UPA, early elections seem very much on the cards.

But the worries are not just limited to the Government camp. There’s tension brewing in the Opposition camp too on who will be the Prime Ministerial candidate.

It’s clear that L K Advani’s prime ministerial ambitions don’t fit with many in the NDA or even within his own party.

In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi has denied the possibility of Advani of being projected as the nominee.

Breaking his silence for the first time, Joshi – a long-time Advani baiter - questioned the veteran’s right to look at himself as the leader of the NDA.

"Just because I have been a party president once, doesn’t mean that I have the right to look at myself as the leader of future,” he said.

Ironically, the RSS which ensured that Advani stepped down from the BJP president's post seems to have accepted the inevitable.

At a recent high-level meeting of all top saffron organisations, a decision has been taken to project Advani as the prime ministerial candidate.

That decision stems from the deteriorating health of the former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and the inability of any of the second rung leaders to match up to Advani's stature.

"Atal ji and Advani ji will always continue to be our leaders,” said BJP spokesperson Prakash Jawadekar.

A few years ago, there were few within the BJP who could have questioned Advani's claims.

Now, dogged by controversial utterances about Jinnah's secularism, perhaps the iron man of the NDA has exposed a rather soft centre.