BJP leaders meet Advani again; BJP Parliamentary Board meeting deferred; Bardhan defends Advani's Pakistan remarks; MM Joshi disagrees with Advani's stand on Jinnah; Indian warship 'INS Kesari' launched in Kolkata; Nepalese ex-PM Koirala meets Sonia Gandhi; Sonia Gandhi to revive Gandhi family ties with Russia; Gautam Goswmai goes jobless; Epidemic kills 300 head of cattle in Tripura; India committed to Sri Lankan peace process: Natwar; JLO gets I million dlr ring from hubby; Madonna plays the 'bad cop' to her kids; Michael Palin thrilled to meet Dalai Lama; Nicole Kidman to be helped by family in selecting beaus; Michelle Monaghan to star in 'Mission Impossible III'; The cause of Jesus' death revealed; Madonna craved for meaningful relationship; Detox diets don't work, say experts; India Travel Times, Indian News, Tourism, Hotels, Airlines, Tour, Travel, Ayurveda, Yoga, Festival, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Kathakali, Dance,

Home Contact Us Dateline New Delhi, Thursday, June 9, 2005

BJP leaders meet Advani again

New Delhi: Keen to close ranks within the party as quickly as possible, senior BJP leaders met party President L K Advani on Thursday and are understood to have submitted a fresh draft resolution upholding his recent Pak visit, in an apparent bid to persuade him to retract his resignation. The group was led by party Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu. Party General Secretaries Sanjay Joshi and Pramod Mahajan accompanied him. They met Advani after a marathon discussion with senior party leaders as also chief ministers of BJP-ruled states. The meeting came a day after Advani expressed his unhappiness over the resolution passed by a meeting of party parliamentary board and central office bearers. The resolution did not express support for Advani's controversial comments on Mohammad Ali Jinnah which caused a furore in the Sangh Parivar and led to the BJP chief's resignation but requested him to lead the party, sources said.

Meanwhile, the BJP has postponed its Parliamentary Board meeting till this evening to accommodate the concerns of party President L K Advani, who has quit the post, regarding the omission of the party's stand on the Jinnah issue in its resolution. The Parliamentary Board was scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. The Board had passed a resolution on Wednesday, rejecting Advani's resignation and appealed to him to reconsider his decision. NDA allies like the Janata Dal (United) have also extended support to Advani, saying the BJP President's comments were supported by history. The party is holding a meeting to consider the issue later today. Earlier in the day, several BJP workers staged demonstrations outside Advani's house demanding withdrawal of his resignation. Leading one of such demonstration, Sahib Singh Varma, the former Cabinet Minister and Chief Minister of Delhi, said that Advani had done nothing wrong and that no one could question his nationalist credentials, and if he resigned it would be a loss for the party and the nation. "We all request Advaniji to reconsider his decision and take the charge of party". Advani, is expected to make a statement today and the BJP Parliamentary Party Board will meet at M.Venkaiah Naidu's house at 5.00 p.m.

On Wednesday, there were unofficial reports that Advani had asked the BJP brass to clearly spell out their stand on the Jinnah issue before asking him to reconsider his resignation. Although, none of the party leaders was ready to say it officially on record. "Some channels have carried reports that Advani asked us to support his statements on Jinnah and some other media reports said that Advani had asked us to choose between him and the RSS. All these reports are false. We don't know where this information came from," said Venkaiah Naidu, Spoksperson, BJP. On Wednesday, BJP leaders fought shy of coming in front of the camera, but admitted that Advani's resignation is a huge crisis for the party, and unless they were able to resolve the issue from within, they would continue to avoid taking centre stage. Party leaders said they were hopeful about Advani withdrawing his resignation.

BJP Parliamentary Board meeting deferred (Go To Top)

New Delhi: The meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Board to discuss party's next strategy in connection with the political crisis generated by L.K.Advani decision to resign as the party's president has now been deferred till tomorrow. It was first to be held at 11 a.m. and then was subsequently postponed to 5 p.m. before finally being deferred to 6 p.m. Friday. The Opposition leader in Rajya Sabha, Jaswant Singh, who is presently abroad, is expected to attend tomorrow's meeting. Earlier, keen to close ranks within the party as quickly as possible, senior BJP leaders had met Advani this morning and are understood to have submitted a fresh draft resolution upholding his recent Pakistan visit in an apparent bid to persuade him to retract on his resignation. The group was led by party Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu. Party General Secretaries Sanjay Joshi and Pramod Mahajan accompanied him. They met Advani after a marathon discussion with senior party leaders as also chief ministers of BJP-ruled states. The meeting came a day after Advani expressed his unhappiness over the resolution passed by a meeting of party parliamentary board and central office bearers. The resolution did not express support for Advani's controversial comments on Mohammad Ali Jinnah which caused a furore in the Sangh Parivar and led to the BJP chief's resignation but requested him to lead the party, sources said. With the postponement the Parliamentary Board meeting till tomorrow, it seems that the BJP leaders are making all efforts to convince Advani to withdraw his resignation.

Bardhan defends Advani's Pakistan remarks (Go To Top)

Kolkata: Communist Party of India (CPI) leader A.B. Bardhan on Thursday defended BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani's remarks on the founder of Pakistan, which led to his resignation. Advani quit as president of the BJP this week after angering key Hindu allies with remarks praising the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Although the BJP has rejected the resignation, he is unlikely to change his mind, a senior party leader told reporters. "He Lal Krishna Advani could have just recounted his experiences in Pakistan. But the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh do not tolerate these things. These parties have been born to say Pakistan and Muslims are enemies. So they will never take such comments on Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah being secular. But I would still say whatever Advani said does not mean that he has left Hindutva," Bardhan told reporters here. The BJP is expected to name an interim party chief on Thursday if Advani remains adamant about his decision to quit the post. He had described Jinnah as a "secular" and "outstanding" leader who had made history. Analysts say the BJP is in a bind as the party hardly has anyone in its ranks to match Advani's stature. Secular allies of the BJP, who shored up the previous BJP-led coalition, have added to the pressure by backing Advani, signalling that they could reconsider their decision to be a part of a BJP coalition if hardliners owing primary allegiance to the RSS gain control of the party.

MM Joshi disagrees with Advani's stand on Jinnah (Go To Top)

New Delhi: The leadership crisis in BJP deepened today as senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi openly criticised party president L K Advani's statements on Jinnah being secular. "We don't agree with anybody who calls Jinnah as secular. He was responsible for the partition of this country. He followed the two-nation theory and lakhs of people died during his time," he said. Joshi said that party's ideology could not be compromised. "This morning I told them that we (BJP) cannot change our stand and cannot call Jinnah secular," he added. Joshi, is one of the candidates tipped to succeed Advani as the party president. He had headed the party from 1990 to 1993 and during the NDA Government, was the number three and a close rival to L K Advani. He has been closer to the RSS than Vajpayee and Advani and when the NDA government was in office, he was accused of saffronising all educational institutions under the administrative control of the HRD Ministry. Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Babulal Marandi and former Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha have also felt that it was injudicial for L K Advani to call Jinnah as a secular leader and that too on Pakistani soil. Marandi was quoted as saying that Jinnah could never be called a secular leader as he was the person responsible for two-nation theory on religious lines. Meanwhile, RSS also today toughened its stand on the issue ruling out any compromise on its "basic ideology". Earlier, the efforts within the party to resolve the crisis reached a deadlock today as the party parliamentary board meeting was deferred till tomorrow. According to latest report, Advani has gone to meet Vice- President B S Shekhawat at his residence.

Indian warship 'INS Kesari' launched in Kolkata (Go To Top)

Kolkata: The Indian Navy launched its warship "INS Kesari" here on Wednesday. The ship, built at a cost of Rs.400 crore (9.2 million dollars), is the most modern Landing Ship Tank (LST) in the country equipped to carry armoured tanks, vehicles and troops. Vice Admiral Yashwant Prasad said the ship marked a milestone in India's amphibious operations. "There are various types of ships, this is a landing ship tank large. It is supposed to carry tanks and it is meant for certain types of operations as I said in my speech it is meant for amphibious operations, these are very important ships for amphibious operations and we are happy that we are making such ships in our own country," said Prasad.

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