March 13, 2026 08:18 am (IST)
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Advani not to deliver valedictory address at BJP's National Executive meet
Bengaluru, Apr 4 (IBNS) LK Advani, the BJP patriarch whose writ in the party no longer runs large with Narendra Modi establishing his command over the party, will not deliver his traditional valedictory address at the party's national executive meeting on Saturday- for the first time in 35 years.
Reports said he has turned down party president Amit Shah's request to speak on the second and last day of the conclave.
Advani's refusal to deliver a speech is seen as a signal of he being distraught and it may have made top leaders anxious about the possibility of the 87-year-old iron man speaking up anything uncomfortable.
Last year, after Mr Shah took over as BJP chief, he effected a major organisational revamp, removing senior leaders like Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi from the party's top decision-making group, the parliamentary board, and assigning them to a "Margdarshak Mandal' or guidance committee- a body with leaders who are not vested with the power to have much command over the organisation.
These leaders were members of the parliamentary board ever since the party was launched in 1980 . Modi's move was seen as a signal of the end to the Vajpayee-Advani.
The guidance committee has played no role in decision-making. It was not consulted in framing strategy for state elections, including when the BJP decided to project Kiran Bedi as its chief ministerial candidate in Delhi or when it decided to forge an alliance with the People's Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir.
Since then Advan remained silent to speak eloquently of his disillusionment and disapproval of the goings-in in the party that he once ran with absolute authority. He has attended Parliament every single day, but has never spoken on the floor of the house.
The last time he did not make his traditional address to the national executive was in 2013, when he skipped a meet in Goa to register his protest against a move to promote Modi.
The last time he did not make his traditional address to the national executive was in 2013, when he skipped a meet in Goa to register his protest against a move to promote Modi.
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