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Rediff.com  » News » Advani withdraws resignation

Advani withdraws resignation

By Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi
Last updated on: June 10, 2005 20:06 IST
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Bharatiya Janata Party chief Lal Kishenchand Advani on Friday withdrew his resignation from the party chief's post, ending a four-day long leadership crisis in the party.

Advani withdrew the resignation after the party adopted a resolution praising his Pakistan visit as a diplomatic success. The resolution also spoke glowingly of a temple renovation project that Advani inaugurated in Pakistan.

Advani resigned on Tuesday after coming under sharp attack from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its allied bodies for his remarks praising Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.

The resolution adopted by the party blamed Jinnah for the Partition and the violence that followed.

"The BJP reiterates that whatever may have been Jinnah's vision of Pakistan, the state that he founded is theocratic and nonsecular, the very idea of Hindus and Muslims being two separate nations is repugnant to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP has always condemned the division of India on communal lines and continues to steadfastly reject the two nation theory championed by Jinnah and endorsed by the British Colonists. There can be no revisiting the reality that Jinnah led a communal agitation to achieve his goal of Pakistan, which devoured thousands of innocent people in its wake and dispossessed millions of their homes and livelihoods," the resolution said.

Also see: Complete Coverage of the BJP Crisis

With PTI inputs

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Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi