Hubli (Karnataka): Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today (Mar 15, 2004) said that it was not a small thing in being Number 2 in the Government and asserted that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been his leader since childhood.

Scoffing at the question that his "Bharat Uday Yatra' was a desperate act by him to come back into the limelight, he said, "Would anyone say that I was not in the limelight in the last few years. I think I have got too much of limelight and I don't need much more."

To a question that he was being overshadowed by Vajpayee, he said, "He (Vajpayee) is my leader. This is since my childhood. He has been my senior leader ever since we two were together. We have worked together for all these decades."

Asked when he would become the leader, he said, "I am already a leader in my own sphere."

When pointed out that he continued to be Number 2 in the Government, he said, "Yes, yes what is wrong about it. Is being Number 2 a small thing?"