Monday, May 2 2005 09:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: A day after his controversial remarks on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership issue, party vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi yesterday (May 1, 2005) sent a detailed letter to party president L K Advani explaining his statement that BJP would be led by a second-rung leader in the next general elections.

Highly placed party sources said that in his letter, Naqvi gave a sequence of the questions put to him at a press conference in his native Rampur and the answers he gave in response to them.

Naqvi, the saffron party's most prominent Muslim face, sent the letter at the instance of Advani, who wanted to know what exactly he had said, which re-ignited the controversy over the leadership issue, which was sparked off by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief K S Sudershan's remarks that both Advani and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee should pave the way for the younger generation.

In his letter, Naqvi said that he had only reiterated Advani's earlier statement that a second-rung leader would head the party and that he had said the same in response to a question as to why Advani was not vacating the top post after Sudershan's remarks, according to the sources.

The party vice president also said that he had told media that the second line of leaders were groomed by both Vajpayee and Advani, they said.

Earlier in the day, Vajpayee said Advani will lead the organisation in next general elections but made it clear that there is nothing unusual about leadership change.

"Advani is our leader and will lead the party in the next general elections," he told reporters in Lucknow after attending the national executive of BJP Mahila Morcha.

Senior party leader Sushma Swaraj had come to the rescue of Naqvi on Saturday (Apr 30, 2005), saying he had only quoted Advani and he had neither the intention to create a controversy nor a controversy has been created.