Rajnath parries questions on Shekhawat

BJP president Rajnath Singh said he held former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in high regard but parried questions on the veteran leader.

BJP president Rajnath Singh on Saturday said he held former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in high regard but parried questions on the veteran leader. "If you respect a person, you do not talk much about him," Rajnath told reporters at Madhya Pradesh BJP office in Bhopal.

HT Image

Shekhawat had created a flutter when he said he had plans to contest Lok Sabha polls if his health permits amid media speculation that his idea could be a challenge to BJP prime ministerial candidate L K Advani for the top post. "Those who have taken a dip in the Ganges do not go for a swim in the well," Singh had told PTI to which Shekhawat had hit back saying "I never demanded a ticket from the BJP and if the party does not want to allot ticket, it is the party's sweet will. I have nothing to do with it". Over Rajnath's statement that someone who had held a key constitutional post should not indulge in electoral politics, Shekhawat had said India's first Governor General C Rajagopalachari had contested elections and had become the Chief Minister of Madrass after leaving the post. The BJP president, however, denied that Shekhawat's statements had caused any problem to the party.