Advani skips BJP meet

BJP patriarch L K Advani's absence at the office-bearers meeting here today cast a shadow on the National Executive meeting beginning tomorrow raising questions over reported plans to announce Narendra Modi as head of the campaign committee for the Lok Sabha elections.
Right from the morning, news that Advani was skipping today's meeting because of "ill health" triggered speculation that it could be linked to his reservations over the Gujarat Chief Minister's nomination as campaign committee chief.
Party sources said there is no clarity on whether Advani will attend the two-day conclave starting tomorrow and this may force the party to give up plans of announcing Modi's name as head of the campaign committee.

Party Vice President Uma Bharati, who has already favoured Advani as BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, has announced she is not attending the Goa meeting. There are reports that there could be some other abstentions including Shatrughan Sinha and Jaswant Singh.
A senior BJP leader said if Advani skips the conclave altogether, there would be little sanctity in declaring Modi's name. Moreover, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who is perceived to be close to Advani and is said to be equally opposed to Modi, will use the absence of the senior leader as an opportunity to seek postponement of the decision on the issue.

While Advani has cited ill-health as the reason for keeping away from the office-bearers meeting, most party leaders accept privately that his opposition to Modi is the real reason.
BJP sources said Swaraj delayed the start of today's office-bearers' meeting here by more than an hour as she is said to be unhappy with the developments.