Foreign Affairs Minister and senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj asks the Congress President Rahul Gandhi to “try to maintain some decorum of your speech” responding to his comment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked his guru (teacher) LK Advani out.

Ms. Swaraj tweeted: “#Advaniji Rahulji – Advani ji is our father figure. Your words have hurt us deeply. Please try to maintain some decorum of your speech.”

She used social media platform to express that she was hurt by the language and the way LK Advani was dragged into the political speeches of Mr. Gandhi. The Congress President slammed the BJP and PM Modi over denial of ticket to veteran leader LK Advani in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, the parliamentary seat he won six times.

“BJP talks of Hinduism. In Hinduism, the guru is supreme. It talks of guru shishya tradition. Who is Modi’s guru? Advani. Modi just kicked Advani out,” Mr Gandhi said.

The BJP president Amit Shah was replaced LK Advani in Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat when the party released its first list on the 18th of March. He was among the 10 odd leaders above the age of 75, whom the party dropped this time.

Among the many political rivals who criticised the BJP for the decision was West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee. She called it an “insult” to the seasoned leader, who was an ex-deputy chief minister under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

LK Advani was reportedly upset about the way he was dropped from party list.

Amid the outpour of reactions, LK Advani broke his silence in a blog titled: “Nation First, Party Next, Self Last”. In the piece, he urged the party to “look back, look ahead and look within” and stressed on “democracy and democratic traditions” within.

Source : Various

Opinion : Nikhil Kukreja

No one can deny that the Gujarat duo, Shah and Modi have sidelined many popular/veteran BJP faces after taking over the party in 2014. They snubbed Mr. Advani, Mr. Joshi and Yashwant Sinha quite early by dumping them in the Margdarshan Mandal.

Come on, Mr. Advani and Mr. Joshi might only be the active members till quite recently. BJP was their political startup, being sided and someone else taking over could be very hurtful.

Now coming back to the context, Mr. Gandhi has all right playing the Advani card but without being rude. He could have chosen his words slightly better. However, Sushma Swaraj has to look at her own backyard before schooling Mr. Gandhi.

Some of the worst bad mouths in her party Yogi Adityanath, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, when are they getting personalised tweets like this, madam?