New Delhi, June 06: Breaking his enigmatic silence over the recent controversy on the leadership question in the BJP, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today said no one should have any doubts over Vajpayee`s leadership and position in the party. The Prime Minister`s remark on Wednesday that Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani would lead the party in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls had created a flutter in political circles. Speculations about a rift between the PM and Advani were fuelled after the DPM maintained an unusually low profile and refused comments on the apparent leadership crisis. Political observers had seen Vajpayee`s statement virtually endorsing Advani`s leadership as a deft political masterstroke meant to consolidate his own position in the party, even as the Advani camp was seen to inch more and more towards a total domination of party affairs. The recent failure of the PM to induct Mamata Banerjee into the Union Cabinet was also viewed as a failure of the Vajpayee camp to put into action their own agenda. BJP president Venkaiah Naidu had raked the controversy when he strove to project Vajpayee and Advani with the epithets of `vikas purush` (development man) and `lauh purush` (iron man) as the twin pillars of the BJP on whose shoulders the elections would be fought. He later retracted his statement saying Vajpayee was the undisputed leader. Seeking to put a lid on the leadership controversy, the Union Cabinet had also thrown its weight fully behind Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee even as the BJP asserted there was no rift between him and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani. "Many people have tried to project that there are differences in BJP but there is no rift or are differences between Vajpayee and Advani. Vajpayee is our leader," BJP president Venkaiah Naidu said at a public function. The Sangh Parivar fountainhead RSS also chipped in with a strong endorsement of Vajpayee. The Deputy Prime Minister was speaking to newsmen just before embarking on a 12-day visit to the United States and Britain to continue dialogue on global fight against terrorism and strengthen bilateral strategic relationship.
Sources said Pakistan and its support to cross-border terrorism and other security-related issues would figure prominently during the meetings both at US and UK.
The tour is being undertaken just after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee`s week-long visit to Germany, Russia and France. Bureau Report