Pro-Modi demonstration outside Advani's house, BJP distances itself

A group of Narendra Modi 'supporters' staged a demonstration outside BJP patriarch LK Advani's house on Friday. The veteran leader has skipped the party’s national executive meet in Goa, reportedly over differences on Narendra Modi’s role in the next general election.

A group of Narendra Modi 'supporters' staged a demonstration outside BJP patriarch LK Advani's house on Friday. The veteran leader has skipped the party’s national executive meet in Goa, reportedly over differences on Narendra Modi’s role in the next general election.

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The BJP – initially taken aback at the unusual protests – was quick to distance itself from them.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the protesters had "no links" with the party. "The BJP does not do any demonstrations in front of its leaders' house," Nirmala Sitaraman later added in the evening.

A handful of slogan-shouting protesters under the aegis of the "Narendra Modi’s Army" had gathered outside Advani’s house earlier in the day. "We have come here because we want Advani to step aside and let Modi come forward," one of them said.

"Our main demand is that Modi should be declared as the prime ministerial candidate. That's why we are protesting here," another protester said.

The BJP insists that Advani had skipped the national executive meet on medical advice.

He is "really unwell," party spokesman Prakash Javadekar said, adding that BJP president Rajnath Singh had even spoken to Advani’s doctor.