Modi's promotion will have repercussions, says Congress

The Congress on Monday avoided commenting on Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Lal Krishna Advani's decision to quit from three key posts in the saffron outfit, and reiterated that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's promotion, as head of the 2014 poll panel will have its own repercussions.

Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said that his party has nothing to say on the latest political developments within the BJP. "This is for the BJP and the person concerned to think and decide. We had already said that it will have its own repercussions," he added.

Advani, who was upset over Modi's promotion as the head of the party's election committee, on Monday quit from key posts in the BJP.

In a letter written and sent to BJP president Rajnath Singh, Advani said he had worked for the most part of his life for the Jan Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party, and now, he was finding it difficult to reconcile with the recent policies and actions of the party, besides the direction in which the BJP was heading.

In the light of the latest developments concerning the BJP, Advani said he was resigning from the BJP's national executive, the party's parliamentary board and its election committee.

Advani's sudden announcement to resign from key BJP posts, came a day after the party leadership appointed Narendra Modi as the chairman of its national election committee, much against the former's wishes.

The BJP president has, however, refused to accept Advani's resignation. "I have not accepted Shri Advaniji's resignation," he tweeted.

In an apparent warning about what his next steps could be, Advani earlier on Sunday made a reference to a wounded ‘Bhishma Pitamah’ lying on a bed of arrows in a scene in Mahabharata. 

The 83-year-old party stalwart, however, made no mention of the Gujarat chief minister in his blog. The reference to Mahabharata epic, which is often interpreted metaphorically, was made by Advani in his blog on a day when he was over-ruled and Modi was anointed as chief of the BJP's election campaign committee.