Senior Indian opposition leader resigns
NEW DELHI, June 10, 2013 (AFP) - Veteran Indian opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani resigned Monday in apparent protest at the elevation of hardliner Narendra Modi to lead his party into next year's elections.
Advani, an 85-year-old stalwart of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a former deputy prime minister, resigned from all his positions in the party which he helped build into a national force.
“He has submitted his resignation letter to the party chief,” a source in his office said on condition of anonymity.
Indian media quoted from a resignation letter by Advani, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate for the 2009 general elections, which made oblique references to Modi without naming him.
Advani said he was “finding it difficult to reconcile with either the functioning of the party or the direction in which it is going,” according to the Press Trust of India.
“I have decided, therefore, to resign from the three main fora of the party, namely, the National Executive, the Parliamentary Board and the Election Committee,” he said.
“Most BJP leaders are concerned just with their personal agendas,” he added.
Controversial right-wing politician Narendra Modi who had willingly accepted the new role during the weekend, said he had requested Advani to change his decision.