Advani, Rajnath to quit by next week

A generational change in the Bharatiya Janata Party hierarchy may be on the anvil with Leader of Opposition L K Advani likely to quit his post next week and party President Rajnath Singh stepping down on Saturday.

Sources said Advani is likely to announce his decision to step down as Leader of Opposition at the parliamentary party meeting to be held on the morning of December 21, the last day of the current Parliament session.

However, BJP's Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who declined to talk about Advani's moves, said the parliamentary party meeting on December 21 will not take place in case the winter session of Parliament adjourns sine die on Friday itself.

BJP President Rajnath Singh is slated to tender his resignation on December 19, paving the way for Maharashtra party unit Chief Nitin Gadkari to take over, party sources said in New Delhi on Thursday.

"The BJP parliamentary board meeting will be held at 3 pm on December 19 followed by a meeting of office-bearers of the party," BJP headquarters in-charge Shyam Jaju said.

Sources said Rajnath Singh will submit his resignation to the parliamentary board in this meeting.

Gadkari has been called to New Delhi for the meeting and will be anointed party chief. The decision will be ratified by the BJP national council.

In the wake of these developments, a number of posts would be up for grabs in the party. The elevation of Swaraj as Leader of  Opposition is almost a certainty, sources said.

The race for the post of deputy leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha is now between Ananth Kumar, Gopinath Munde and Shahnawaz Hussain.

Munde and Yashwant Sinha are also eyeing the post of Public Accounts Committee chairman which has fallen vacant after Jaswant Singh's resignation.