PM Modi reaches out, but 'marg darshak' LK Advani skips speech

BENGALURU: BJP's national executive meeting wrapped up here on Saturday with party patriarch L K Advani skipping the "marg darshan" speech in a departure from the party's 35-year tradition even as he participated in the two-day session sharing the high table at the conclave as well as at the public rally with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah.

It is learnt that Advani had communicated to the party leadership that he was "not keen" to address the gathering, when he was approached during the preparations for the national executive. While the BJP leadership wanted Advani to speak at the meet, a routine fare at such conclaves, it finally accepted the veteran leader's request to leave him out of the list of speakers this time.

During their respective speeches, both Modi and Shah had reached out to Advani, profusely praising his leadership and guidance to the party over three and half decades.

The veteran leader had stayed away from the Goa meet in 2013 in which Modi was anointed the party's campaign committee head in the run-up to the parliamentary polls.

Advani, a key architect of the party, diligently attended the deliberations and shared the table with Modi and Shah over lunch. They joked and talked about the past in a 'completely cordial' atmosphere, sources said.

Party leaders dismissed speculation that his refusal to deliver a speech reflected his disgruntlement, saying there were nearly 300 delegates and everybody couldn't have spoken. However, Advani cannot be counted as any other member, being one of the founder leaders of the party along with Atal Bihari Vajpyee when BJP was born on April 6, 1980.

"He (Advani) is a senior leader of the party. He can guide us from any platform of the party that he chooses to," finance minister Arun Jaitley told reporters replying to queries at the end of the meeting.

Asked if it was Advani's decision or that of the party, Jaitley, with a tinge of humour, said the party's decision-making couldn't be discussed with the media. "Internal decision-making is something we don't discuss with the media. How we settle the programme of the party, I am sure even in the world of RTI and transparency, we cannot share with you," he said.

The meet ended on Saturday afternoon with the valedictory address by the Prime Minister. At the BJP national council held in New Delhi in August last year, Advani had made a speech before Modi's valedictory address but at that time too he had mentioned that it was on Shah's insistence. Advani had then said that only the PM should speak at the concluding session.

Both Vajpayee and Advani were dropped from BJP's parliamentary board in August last year and made part of "Marg Darshak Mandal" which has barely played any role in the party so far.