Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) top leader Lal Krishna Advani on 6 April filed his nomination from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, accompanied by Gujarat Chief Minister and prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. While submitting Advani's nomination, Modi handed over the papers to the Gandhinagar returning officer.
The party tried to put a show of unity at the event as Advani, 86, was not happy initially when the party announced Modi as the prime ministerial candidate. And also, Advani was reportedly forced to contest from Gandhinagar, though his desire was to contest from the Bhopal constituency.
Before filing the nomination, Advani and Modi addressed a public meeting. Modi urged the party cadre to work for the victory of Advani. There were reports that Advani was not willing to contest from Gandhinagar as he was scared that Modi may work against him in the constituency.
At the meeting, Advani praised Modi as a remarkable leader. "I will not call Narendra bhai my protege, but I have never seen a more brilliant and efficient events manager than him. And this event management capacity he had brought to governance also. That has made him more suitable for the assignment, the party has given to him," the Times Now quoted Advani.
Advani also stated that he never thought about shifting from the Gandhinagar constituency, though there was pressure on him to contest from the Bhopal seat in Madhya Pradesh.
However, Advani said that Modi cannot be compared to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "I would not compare, certainly not to Atal ji. Atal ji was a class by himself. The main ideologue of the party was Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and the person to implement it in governance was Atal ji," he said.
Modi termed Advani as the main pillar of the party. Modi also said that he has learnt a lot from Advani. Advani mentioned the total value of his and family members' property at ₹7 crore in the nomination papers.
