The most direct and open call within the BJP to party patriarch L.K. Advani asking him to make way for Narendra Modi’s projection as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate came on Thursday from senior Bihar leader Sushil Kumar Modi, known for long for his pro-Advani leanings. In two back-to-back Twitter messages, the former Bihar deputy chief minister made an impassioned pitch for ending the current logjam in the BJP’s top echelons over a reportedly stubborn Advani blocking the Gujarat leader’s prime ministerial path.
While the Bihar leader’s call was supported by BJP national vice-president C.P. Thakur, his frank tweets shocked many in the BJP and elicited a stinging attack from the JD(U). “Adavaniji has failed to gauge the public mood. Advaniji himself declared Atalji as PM candidate, now also he could have done the same for NaMo,” said a tweet by Mr Sushil Modi.
In another tweet that intrigued many Advani supporters, the Bihar leader said, “Politics is the only profession in which people aspire till their last. Ministerial berth can resurrect a dead politician?” Both the tweets were posted late on Wednesday night.