Advani unhappy with Gandhinagar, BJP leaders come calling

New Delhi, March 20 (IANS) A host of BJP leaders, including prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Thursday rushed to meet patriarch L.K. Advani amid reports that he did not want to again contest from Gandhinagar, the seat for which the party has named him.

Gandhinagar in Gujarat is the seat that Advani represents in the 15th Lok Sabha. The senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, according to sources, wanted to fight the polls from Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal this time.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had also called party president Rajnath Singh and requested him to let Advani contest from Bhopal.

However, party announced its fifth list of candidates, naming Advani from Gandhinagar, after a meeting Wednesday that he missed.

Modi met Advani at the senior party leader's residence here Thursday morning and was with him for nearly an hour.

Details of the meeting were not disclosed.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj also went to Advani's residence. She had met the party leader Wednesday as well along with former party president Nitin Gadkari.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley also met Advani.

Sources added that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who met Modi Wednesday, telephoned Advani as well and urged him to amicably sort out the issue.