My heart goes out to Advani, says Digvijaya Singh

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh Sunday said his heart goes out to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran L K Advani, who skipped the ongoing BJP national executive meet in Goa citing ill health.

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh Sunday said his heart goes out to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran L K Advani, who skipped the ongoing BJP national executive meet in Goa citing ill health.

"My heart goes out to Advani-ji. He brought the BJP from two to 182 in the Lok Sabha. But then the ungrateful BJP is a party with differences," tweeted Digvijaya Singh.

BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters Saturday that Advani would miss the party's national executive meeting due to "ill-health".

Advani's absence comes amid reports that he is upset about the decision to make Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi the head of BJP's campaign committee for the 2014 general elections.

It is for the first time in his entire political career that Advani has skipped the national executive meeting.

The former deputy prime minister had suggested the formation of two campaign committees -- one for the upcoming assembly elections in five states this year-end, led by Modi, and another for the 2014 general elections.

A final decision on who will spearhead the party's campaign in the general elections is expected to be announced Sunday.

Advani, along with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, led the formation of the BJP, the successor of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, in 1980.