BJP leaders meet Advani; request to continue as Oppn leader

NEW DELHI: BJP top brass led by party president Rajnath Singh on Sunday held series of meetings with senior leader L K Advani to persuade him to become leader of opposition in the new Lok Sabha.

Singh, accompanied by senior party leaders M Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar, Ram Lal and S S Ahluwalia, held a long meeting this evening with Advani to convince him to reconsider his decision to quit.

Party sources said Advani was adamant and "stood firm" on his decision. The issue is also expected to figure in the NDA meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

BJP, however, maintained that the issue of Leader of Opposition did not come up for discussion during today's meetings.

"This was more of an informal gathering. We discussed the meeting of NDA Chief Ministers and senior NDA leaders to be held tomorrow," Ahluwalia said.

He added that since the BJP Parliamentary Board has turned down the offer made by Advani, it was upto the Board to take a formal call.

At the meeting of the Board yesterday, Advani had expressed his desire not to continue as Leader of Opposition in the new Lok Sabha after the BJP suffered a severe drubbing in the elections.