Claiming ignorance of the possibility that Rajnath Singh, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, would be the next president of the Bharatiya Janata party, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh spokesman Ram Madhav said that he was not aware of any such development and he has merely read or seen whatever is being projected on television networks.

Speaking to rediff.com over the phone from Delhi, he said the RSS would support L K Advani's successor if he asked for it.

"Essentially, this is an internal decision of the party as to who should lead the BJP in place of Advaniji. Our link with the BJP is more on ideological plane. If the new president seeks our moral support and guidence, we would have no hesitation to give it," he said.

When asked if it was true that Mohan Bhagwat and Suresh Soni held consultations with the BJP leadership before Rajnath Singh's name was announced, he said, "We have time and again said that selection of the new party president is the BJP's internal matter and we have nothing to do with it whatsoever."

• Differences between RSS, Advani surface

However, the current silence of the BJP leadership on Rajnath's fate and the RSS's changed attitude may set off new round of speculation about the successor to Advani.

Pramod Mahajan, BJP general secretary and the organiser of the Rajat Jayanti celebration of the party in Mumbai continued to stall questions about the new party president. "I have said that till December 30th, Advaniji is the party president," he told newsmen.

Mahajan is hosting a lunch for the media persons on January 31 and Advani is expected to resign between the afternoon of December 30 and December 31, unless he changes his mind at the last minute.

Since there are enough BJP leaders in the race for succession, this leaves sufficient room for speculation on the matter.

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