No Public Pressure On Advani To Quit, Says Govindacharya

While renouncing public life, Advani had claimed to have taken a high moral ground. The BJP's detractors, particularly the Congress and the Left parties had dismissed Advani's claim, saying that he should have resigned from party presidentship also. Saturday's development is likely to prick Advani's conscience once again.

BJP general secretaries Govindacharya and M Venkaiah Naidu, however, asserted there would be no pressure on Advani either from within or outside the party to quit presidentship in view of new development in the Congress party.

Govindacharya disagreed there would be public pressure on Advani to emulate Rao and said Advani would not succumb to such pressure, even if it existed. Sometimes cadre-based parties find it difficult to put across its viewepoint to the masses and this might be true to some extent in the case of Advani's resignation also.

But the party knows the stock of Advani and has no doubt about his innocence. This has not been true in the case of Narasimha Rao, Govindacharya said.

Describing Rao's resignation as the one forced by intra-party pressure rather than a sudden someresault in Rao's morality, the BJP leader said if at all Rao wanted to take a moral stand, he should have resigned from the Lok Sabha.

He has not done so because he is resigning under pressures from his detractors within the party.

In fact, Congress president was looking for alibis to quit party post gracefully and the court's summon has provided him this opportunity, he felt, and pointed out that Advani's resignation was suo motto.

Govindacharya further stressed there was no parallel between Rao and Advani about the respect they commanded within their respective parties.

In his opinion, while Rao was surrounded by sycophants, Advani had backing of the entire party.

The resignation of former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao from the post of party president after being summoned by special judge in the Lakhubhai Pathak cheating case is likely to put pressure on BJP President L K Advani to emulate Rao.

The BJP is, however, expected to pressurise Narasimha Rao for resigning from the Lok Sabha as well, if the Congress wanted to make a virtue of his forced resignation.

Venkaiah Naidu while comparing Rao and Advani said Advani's case is one of victimisation where as Rao's is that of disgrace.

Rao's resignation would not have any impact on Advani's position in the BJP because the party is unanimous about honesty, integrity and innocence of Advani.