Advani: Will consult central leaders over party chief

NEW DELHI, Sept 5(Agencies): With the RSS pushing for a generational shift in BJP, senior leader L K Advani, who has been tasked with overseeing a smooth transition, has indicated that central leaders will not be excluded from the process even as the party was prepared to look beyond those with national profiles.

In the wake of intense discussions led by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Advani and the Sangh have agreed to move ahead with a succession plan as the tenure of BJP president Rajnath Singh nears completion.

RSS has held consultations with a range of leaders including Rajnath.

Advani is expected to hold wide-ranging consultations within BJP.

Speaking to TOI, Advani said, "All will be consulted.

Even those who are here (in Delhi) will be consulted.

Generally, the approach will be that nobody is to be excluded while considering the possibility.

Though this much is true, the focus should not be on those who are based in Delhi (alone)." He clarified that though RSS wanted the net cast beyond central leaders, it did not mean the latter were excluded.

After months of bitter infighting, which impacted BJP's campaign in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and increased after the party's defeat, resulted in a massive Sangh intervention.

At the end of it, RSS is keen Advani that move forward on the transition while keeping in mind the need for the party to attain a degree of "stability" that has been missing since it lost power in 2004.

Having made it clear to all concerned that it was now insistent on effecting a generational shift, RSS also signalled that it was not prepared to accept continued vocal dissidence even as it advocated accommodation of the dissident view point.

Now Advani is expected to take forward the process and take a call on his own role as leader of Opposition at a later date.

The wrangling in the party has also seen various leaders, including the expelled Jaswant Singh, make a beeline to home-bound former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Dissidents like Arun Shourie have also met him, though he said he did so often, and on Friday Bhagwat also called on Vajpayee.

Advani said the choice of the next party chief may not impact the party's chief ministers, none of whom are keen on a central assignment anyway.

There remains, with the CMs ruled out of the race, the possibility of a lesser known leader being picked with "low profile" seen as a virtue.

But any choice will have to square up with the need for the next party chief to wield sufficient authority to set right a listing ship.

If leaders like Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh or Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa are not being considered, the field is not all that wide.

In the past, BJP has had its share of surprises with seniors often chosen as consensus eluded the younger set.

Central leaders who have topped the shortlist for the post earlier are Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and M Venkaiah Naidu, the last was party chief earlier and stepped down after the party's 2004 Lok Sabha defeat.

The party is not pushing an early deadline either to replace Rajnath, as he is also part of the decision making process, and since it is only a matter of some months before his tenure gets over, there will be no effort to bring it forward.

That will also ensure that the transition process is "smooth" and takes place at its normal pace.