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No regrets over Jinnah statement: Advani
The former BJP chief also said it was a mistake to have withdrawn his resignation after his return from Pakistan.
Barely a week after stepping down, an 'unrepentant' former BJP President LK Advani has said that his statement on Jinnah was made out of conviction.
The former BJP chief also said it was a mistake to have withdrawn his resignation after his return from Pakistan.
Conceding there was still some communication gap between him and the Sangh leaders, the Leader of Opposition reiterated the point he made at the party's Chennai national executive that "lately things have happened which give the impression that the BJP cannot take a decision unless it is endorsed by RSS."
Interestingly, in the same breath Advani said, "by and large BJP takes its own decisions. Consultations we do have but the RSS does not tell us, do this or don't do that".
"I withdrew my resignation because the party passed a unanimous resolution asking me to take it back. Perhaps it was a mistake to withdraw it. I should not have done that. I sometimes think I would have been better off if, first, I had not accepted the presidentship and second, if I had not taken back my resignation," he said in an interview to a reputed new magazine.
Asked whether he regretted the speech he made in Pakistan, Advani said, "I don't regret anything that I said or did in Pakistan. I feel that was something that really contributed greatly to the cause I promote. I am proud of my Hinduism. I am not against Muslims. I am not against Islam. I am not against Pakistan. I think I have served my cause and my ideology".
