Indian opposition leader to step down

Indian opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani said Sunday he would stand down as head of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December, the second time he has announced his resignation this year.

BJP officials said Advani would lead the party at a plenary meeting in Mumbai in December and vacate the post there.

"I have decided... that after the Mumbai session I shall demit office and the party's stewardship should be taken over by some other colleagues," Advani said in a statement in the southern city of Chennai, formerly Madras, on the last day of the BJP's national executive meeting.

Advani, deputy prime minister in the BJP-led coalition government which lost power last year, resigned his party post in June after hardline Hindu allies, furious at his praise for Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah, demanded he withdraw the remarks or quit the job.

The party wooed him back by working out a compromise between the hardline groups and Advani. However, ties remained strained between Advani and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP's ideological parent.

The RSS did not want Advani to continue as BJP leader and agreed to his return as a temporary measure, analysts said.

Advani did not elaborate on his decision but analysts said this was in keeping with his promise to the RSS that he would quit after elections in the eastern state of Bihar, due to be held in four stages between October and November.

The BJP has been struggling for direction since losing national elections in May last year, seemingly unsure whether to pitch itself as a moderate force in Indian politics or pander to its Hindu nationalist supporters.

Advani was seen as a champion of the hardliners, but has steered a more moderate line since taking over the party leadership for a fourth time last October.

Source: China Daily