BJP buys time to placate Advani

Fresh resolution will seek to balance Sangh's views and party president's sentiments

The crisis in the BJP appears to have deepened today with the party postponing its parliamentary board meeting by a day.

While the official reason being given for the delay is that former finance minister Jaswant Singh wants to attend the board meeting (he is expected to arrive in India tomorrow afternoon), sources reveal that the party is still coming to grips with the situation.

"Advani threw down the gauntlet yesterday, and refused to allow the party to delink his resignation from his remarks on Jinnah," said a senior party leader.

Faced with this impasse, senior BJP leaders today went into a huddle to try and come up with a face saver. The parliamentary board meeting was evidently postponed because the leaders believed it to be an exercise in futility.

According to senior leaders, a new resolution covering Advani's trip to Pakistan including his remarks on Jinnah is being prepared, however, the RSS attitude to such a resolution has tied the hands of senior leaders of the BJP.

"Basically, the postponement will give the second-rung leaders an opportunity to confabulate and work out various scenarios. Off record, most have accepted the fact that the next president will be from amongst them and they are positioning themselves for that eventuality," said a party ideologue.

Advani will be attending the parliamentary board meeting tomorrow to give his "reply" on the resolution passed by the board yesterday. He is expected to stand firm on his resignation.

The role of the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh is the most significant in all this. It is the fear of the RSS that has prevented most of the second-rung leaders of the BJP to come out in support of Advani.

"The RSS has made it very clear that Advani is now unacceptable as party chief. We will not lift a finger to get him back. There will be a new party president," said a party office bearer. "Wait and see, some new leaders will emerge in this situation," he added.

The new resolution that is being drafted will reflect these compulsions. It would seek to strike a balance between "Advani's hurt feelings and popular sentiments", party sources said.

"The new resolution would focus on his visit to Pakistan though it would avoid any defence of Jinnah's secular credentials," they said.

Advani is understood to have expressed disappointment over the text of the resolution passed at a meeting of the BJP parliamentary board and central office bearers yesterday which had avoided any reference to his week-long visit to the neighbouring country, adds PTI.

While the BJP has weathered crisis situations before, this one will result in leaving behind some old certainties, including having Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani at the helm of affairs.