LK Advani resigns from all positions in BJP

New DelhiL: BJP veteran L.K. Advani Monday quit from all major posts in the party, accusing most of its leaders of being concerned 'just with their personal agendas'.

Advani shot off an angry letter to Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh a day after the party named Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as head of the Lok Sabha campaign committee.

The three-para letter made no reference to Modi but its tone made it clear that the resignation was linked to the chief minister's elevation - opposed by Advani - at a party conclave in Goa Sunday.

'For some time I have been finding it difficult to reconcile either with the current functioning of the party, or the direction in which it is going,' Advani said. 

He said he no longer had 'the feeling that this is the same idealistic party' created by Shyama Prasad Mookerji, Panadit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Nanaji Deshmukh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee 'whose sole concern was the country and its people'.

'Most leaders of ours are now concerned just with their personal agendas,' the letter said.

'I have decided, therefore, to resign from the three main fora of the party: national executive, the parliamentary board and the election committee. This may be regarded as my resignation letter.'

BJP leaders to persuade Advani

New Delhi: Taken aback by L K Advani's resignation from all party posts, BJP leaders today said they will persuade him to reconsider it and were hopeful that he will do so. Advani's close associate Jaswant Singh maintained that the 'worries and concerns' raised by Advani about the affairs of the party would be looked into. 'The issues he has raised are for the good of the party and the nation. I am hopeful a proper solution to these would come out. I am sure the party will be successful in dealing with these issues,' Singh told reporters outside Advani's residence. In Nagpur, former BJP President Nitin Gadkari said the party needs the guidance of a veteran leader like Advani at this juncture. 'We will pray to him to reconsider and I am
confident he will take back his resignation,' Gadkari said.

Party MP Uma Bharti, who met Advani and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj separately this morning, said that she and and Swaraj had a 'good conversation' but refused to answer questions on Advani's resignation, saying she does not 
want to speak on that matter. Asked whether her writing a letter to party President Rajnath Singh on not being able to attend the BJP conclave at Goa was any indication that she was upset, Bharti said she was not annoyed in any manner. PTI