Enter Narendra Modi,exit L K Advani

The Sena said it could not think of the BJP or NDA without Advani,and the JD(U) declared that the NDA was now on “ventilator support”.

In the evening,Modi tweeted he had spoken to Advani by phone and urged him not to “disappoint lakhs of (BJP) karyakartas”.

Through the day,there was nothing from Advani that seemed to indicate he might change his mind. The BJP top leadership met several times during the day,and the party’s parliamentary board was in a huddle to discuss the unprecedented crisis on Monday evening.

Advani,who had signalled his disapproval of the decision to elevate Modi by staying away from the BJP conclave in Goa — the first national executive meeting that he had ever missed — said in a letter to Singh on Monday morning that he was resigning from the BJP’s parliamentary board,national executive and election committee because,“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”.

“I no longer have the feeling that this is the same idealistic party created by Dr Mookerji,Deen Dayalji,Nanaji and Vajpayeeji whose sole concern was the country,and its people. Most leaders of ours are now concerned just with their personal agendas,” Advani said,without giving any specifics.

He did not,however,step down from the posts of the working chairman of the NDA and the chairman of the BJP parliamentary party.

Sources said Singh had requested Advani to withhold his decision until after a discussion in the party and with the RSS,but the resignation letter was soon made public. Advani was learnt to be upset not just over the elevation of Modi,but also with the way decisions were being taken in the party.

“He is upset with the decision-making process and the practice of the RSS micro-managing BJP affairs,” a senior leader who met Advani on Monday told The Indian Express.

But the RSS,sources said,had conveyed to the BJP leadership that while it should try to reason with Advani and get him to withdraw his resignation,it should not buckle under pressure from the veteran. The Sangh is learnt to be of the view that an “individual”,irrespective of his seniority,must not be allowed to derail the decision of the majority in the organisation.

“It is unfortunate. We hope the party leadership will persuade him to take it (resignation) back,” RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said.