| Home» News |
Advani elected leader of opposition
|
New Delhi, May 31: L K Advani was on Sunday elected as
leader of the BJP`s Parliamentary party which however failed
to elect its deputy leader in the Lok Sabha and its Rajya
Sabha chief leaving it to him to take the key decisions which
would give broad contours of future leadership.
With his election at BJP`s Parliamentary party`s first
meeting after the recent Lok Sabha elections, Advani(81)
becomes the Leader of the Opposition by virtue of heading the
single largest opposition party.
"After his election as the leader, the parliamentary
party has authorised Advaniji to appoint office-bearers
including leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha and deputy
leader of both the houses. He has also been authorised to
appoint chief whips in both the houses," senior party leader
Sushma Swaraj told reporters after the meeting.
Sushma was among the front-runners to don the mantle of
deputy leader while the names of Venkaiah Naidu and Arun
Jaitley were doing the rounds to head the party in the Upper
House and to become Leader of the Opposition there.
When asked whether Advani would continue as Leader of
Opposition (LoP) for the Lok Sabha`s entire term, Venkaiah
Naidu said such questions were irrelevant.
However, party MP Chandan Mitra told TV channels that
"once the new president lineup has been cleared, I am sure Mr
Advani will step down and hand over charge (as LoP) to the
next generation." Rajnath Singh`s tenure as BJP`s president
ends in January next year.
Addressing the meeting, Advani said the party was "deeply
disappointed" at the "setback" it suffered in the recent Lok
Sabha elections. BJP has begun a" thoroughgoing " exercise of
introspection and corrective action and "no factor will be
overlooked," he said.
About BJP`s showing the elections, Advani said, "We
cannot downplay the setback we have suffered or the causes
that led to it." At the same time, he said, "just as the
nature of the defeat should not be downplayed it should not be
exaggerated either."
In a word of caution to the UPA, Advani said, "...We have
congratulated you on your success. But we do hope that you
correctly assess the meaning of people`s verdict, and not
mistake it as a resounding endorsement of your government`s
performance in the last five years."
He said BJP will follow the "five guiding principles" as
a "constructive opposition party. Among them would be BJP
always supporting the government whenever "national interests
so demand" since it is a party that believes in the `nation
first` philosophy.
After the meeting, party leader Sushma Swaraj told
reporters that reasons for the BJP`s defeat in the Lok Sabha
elections were not discussed.
According to her, Advani asked the workers not to lose
confidence. "Advani ji said there was a time when we were to
reduced to only two seats. This time, we are 58 times more
after winning 116 seats," Swaraj added.
Advani told his fellow party MPs that the BJP will have
to find out why its performance was poor in states like
Rajasthan, UP, Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Orissa and also
examine when it won less than the expected number of seats in
states such as Gujarat, MP and Maharashtra.
"No less important, we have to chalk out a plan to expand
our support base in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,
Kerala and West Bengal in the coming five years," he said.
10 dist units dissolved in UP
After its poor performance in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, the BJP on Sunday dissolved its 10 district units in Uttar Pradesh, party sources said here.
"The district units of Gorkahpur, Deoria, Mau, Kushinagar, Hardoi, Unnao, Etawah, Mahoba, Auraiya and Lalitpur have been dissolved with immediate effect", State Vice President Hriday Narain Dixit said.
He, however, refused to divulge the reasons for the move.
Bureau Report
|
|
|
|
|
|
|