By IANS,
Nagpur : Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani held a prolonged meeting with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief K.Sudarshan at the RSS headquarters here Sunday.
Advani, who stayed overnight in the city after addressing a paddy growers’ rally at Shendurwafa nearby Saturday, had his lunch at the RSS headquarters besides a leisurely interaction with top functionaries of the organisation. Those he met with included Sar-karyavahak (general secretary) Mohan Bhagwat and his three deputies Suresh Soni, Bhaiyyaji Joshi and Madandas Devi besides the Sangh chief.
A former RSS pracharak, Advani was visiting the organisation headquarters for the first time after its renovation, Bhagwat told IANS, adding that the BJP leader was particularly happy to see the new statue of RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar.
“Though the rest of us (top RSS functionaries) meet regularly, it was after a long time that Advani got an opportunity to meet all of us together,” Bhagwat said.
In fact, it was after he learnt about the RSS top office-bearers’ ongoing meeting in Nagpur that Advani decided to stay overnight in the city to visit the organisation’s headquarters the next day, Bhagwat said.
Much significance is being attached to Advani’s visit to the RSS office in view of his recent efforts to mend fences with his parent organisation – their ties had soured in the wake of Advani’s visit to Pakistan and his laudatory remarks about Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
The recent brief disturbance in the BJP, stemming from sulking general secretary Gopinath Munde’s resignations from the party posts, and next year’s general elections are the other factors in the backdrop of Advani’s visit.
Accompanied by BJP state unit chief Nitin Gadkari, Advani also called on ailing RSS functionary Vilas Phadanavis at his Gandhinagar residence here.
Advani left for Ahmedabad later in the afternoon.