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| Advani to be elected as BJP Parliamentary Party leader on May 31 | | | AGENCIES’
New Delhi, May 23 : The BJP Parliamentary Party will formally elect Mr L K Advani as its leader to enable him to function as the Leader of Opposition on May 31, a day ahead of the commencement of the 15th Lok Sabha sittings. A decision to this effect was made by the BJP Parliamentary Board, the party's apex decision making body, BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley told newspersons after the meeting. Mr Advani was the Leader of Opposition in the 14th Lok Sabha and was projected as the NDA's Prime Ministerial candidate in the run upto the poll campaign. The Parliamentary Party would also choose the next Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha following the migration of incumbent leader Jaswant Singh to the Lower House after winning in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Following the party's inability to capture power in the polls, Mr Advani had offered to hand over the leadership to some other leader but was persuaded by the Parliamentary Board to stay on. There has been confusion regarding Mr Advani's tenure in the Parliamentary Party. While one section says that there was no time frame for Mr Advani's leadership, the other group asserts that it was only a matter of time when the senior party leader's offer will be accepted. The NDA has 157 members including 116 MPs from the BJP in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The names of Jaswant Singh, senior party leaders Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj and BJP president Rajnath Singh are regarded as the front runners to succeed Mr Advani if his offer to pass on the leadership is accepted. The party obviously has allowed Mr Advani to continue in the saddle to facilitate 'smooth transfer' and to obviate any unpleasant fight among the contenders. Some leaders have already stated that Mr Advani will play the role of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, after he demits his office of Leader of the Opposition. The BJP Parliamentary Board has also decided to hold its National Executive meeting in Delhi in mid June and the dates will be announced depending upon the availability of the venue of the meeting.
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