Raipur: Will Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) witness a change of its leadership ahead of next Lok Sabha elections with Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani back at the helm of party affairs?

The question is being asked with increasing frequency in BJP circles after the three-day national executive meeting.

What set the grapevine abuzz was the amendment of the BJP constitution on the second day of the national executive meeting on July 18 to enable a second term for its president, albeit not consecutively.

BJP's organisational elections in all states would be completed by October 15 and a new all-India president of the party would be in place by December 15.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's surprise remarks at a function in Delhi recently that Advani would lead the party to victory in the next elections had fuelled speculation about Advani's possible return as party chief.

True, Vajpayee's remark had come at the height of a controversy triggered by BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu's giving joint billing to the Prime Minister and Advani as the party's leaders in coming Lok Sabha polls.

However, Vajpayee in his address to the national executive on July 19 said the party would succeed in its "Operation 2003 and Mission 2004" under Naidu's presidentship.

BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan had said on July 19 that he personally thought Naidu would become party president for a full three-year term and there is no possibility of change.

Naidu himself declined to speculate about his future. It was for the party to decide on his successor in the coming organisational elections, he said in reply to a question.

Asked whether he would continue to help the party after organisational elections in December, Naidu told reporters, "I don't want to assume or presume anything but to do my work till I am allotted a new assignment."

PTI