New Delhi: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani will retire as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha in the new year and the upcoming winter session of Parliament will be his last, sources tell CNN-IBN.
Advani, who turned 82 on Sunday, will retire after BJP president Rajnath Singh completes his term as the party president in December. Singh himself gave a hint of this in a statement on Sunday. “There is no doubt that Advaniji played a key role in the rise of the BJP in Indian politics. He will always guide us,” said Singh.
IANS adds For Advani, 2009 could have been the most important year of his political journey. But after the debacle his party faced at the hands of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections, followed by a mutiny of sorts by BJP leaders against his authority, Advani has been keeping a low profile.
Advani was born on November 8, 1927 in Karachi, now in Pakistan. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1942 at the young age of 15. He was soon to take part in active politics, joining the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (the precursor to the BJP) in 1951.
He held various positions in the government 1977 onwards, becoming union minister for information and broadcasting at that time. He became home minister in 1998 and was deputy prime minister between 1999 and 2004.
(With inputs from IANS)
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