BJP in turmoil after resignation of Advani

New Delhi: The BJP was in turmoil after L.K. Advani paid the price for his controversial praise for Mohammed Ali Jinnah and resigned as party president following the RSS backlash.

With Advani not not in a mood to oblige appeals for reconsideration of his decision, top BJP leaders including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee met and decided that the Parliamentary Board and the central office bearers would meet here on Wednesday evening to discuss the crisis in the wake of his resignation.

The 78-year-old BJP mascot, who had been under attack from the Sangh Parivar for describing the founder of Pakistan as secular, chose not not to retract his comments as demanded by RSS.

He, therefore, tendered his resignation to party General Secretary and RSS pointsman Sanjay Joshi through a letter which he said he had written before leaving Karachi for home on Monday.

The announcement of the resignation plunged the party into a turmoil with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other BJP leaders trying to persuade Advani to reconsider. Till late in the evening there was no no indication that he would retract his decision to quit.

BJP leaders have maintained that Advani was adamant that he would not go back on his decision They also strongly disapproved the statement made against Advani by VHP leader Pravin Togadia that he was a "traitor" calling the language "totally objectionable not not expected from a nationalist organisation."

The BJP condemned it in the "strongest possible" language, Naidu said after a meeting of senior leaders including Vajpayee who made a collective appeal to Advani to take back his resignation.