Advani denies reports of going to Rajya Sabha

BJP veteran L.K. Advani Sunday denied reports that he was being nominated by his party for the Rajya Sabha.

Talking to reporters at his residence Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said that contesting the next Lok Sabha elections is on his mind.

"I have not said anything (about going to the Rajya Sabha) and if somebody offers me this suggestion, I will think about it. But it is natural, I think, that if I had to consider it I would have done it earlier," Advani said in response to a question.

Asked if he will fight the Lok Sabha elections, he said: "That is what is on my mind."

Reports Saturday suggested Advani and some other senior party leaders may be nominated for the Rajya Sabha.

Advani, who represents Gujarat's Gandhinagar in the Lok Sabha, had resigned from all party posts when Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was nominated the chief of the party's campaign panel for Lok Sabha polls. He withdrew his resignation later after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh intervened.

Modi was later named the party's prime ministerial candidate.

Advani, in the recently concluded national council meet of BJP, was all praise for Modi, and the decision to field him for the top post.