New Delhi: Breaking his silence on the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leadership issue, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani on June 6 dismissed the controversy as "absolutely nothing" and blamed the media for creating it.

"Sometimes I feel like laughing about how controversies are made (in the media) without any basis. I didn't comment and I don't want to comment, make any statement. There is absolutely nothing in it," he said before emplaning for Mumbai en route to his 12-day two nation visit to USA and Britain.

He was asked about the controversy following Vajpayee's remarks that Advani would lead the party to victory in the wake of a statement by BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu that the party would project Vajpayee as "vikas purush" (man of development) and Advani as "loh purush" (iron man) in the next elections.

Advani said he was a newspaperman and as a newspaperman he knew how controversies were made without any basis. "My respect for newspapers has gone down that much because of the reports over the BJP leadership."

PTI