Modi 'wholeheartedly welcomes' Advani's decision

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that he welcomed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran Lal Krishna Advani's decision to withdraw his resignation from all key posts of the party.

"I had said yesterday that Advani ji will not disappoint lakhs of Karyakartas. Today, I wholeheartedly welcome his decision!" he said on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Modi had yesterday called Advani and requested him to withdraw his resignation.

Advani, who had earlier on Monday resigned from party's Parliamentary Board, Election Committee and National Executive, today decided to be back on board following RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's advice that he should respect the Parliamentary Board's decision and continue to guide the party in national interest.

In his resignation letter submitted to BJP President Rajnath Singh, Advani said he has been finding it difficult to reconcile with the functioning of the party and the direction in which it is going.

Advani, who was not happy with Modi's appointment as the chairman of campaign committee for 2014 general elections, said that most BJP leaders are concerned just with their personal agenda.

Senior BJP leaders, including Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu and Ravi Shankar Prasad, visited Advani at his residence here today to persuade him to withdraw his resignation, which was rejected by the party's top decision-making body last evening.