New Delhi, June 1 : Anshuman Mishra, who was in the news recently when his candidature for a Rajya Sabha seat from Jharkhand was endorsed by some BJP MLAs, has written a letter to party leader L K Advani asking him to hang his boots and give way to younger leaders.
Describing Advani as the tallest leader and mentor of the party in his letter, Mishra asked the octagenarian leader to give an opportunity to leaders like Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Narendra Modi to “lead the nation”. “....Don't you think a father, who has nourished his son's (sic)- should make way for the younger generation,” Mishra asks Advani in the letter.
Other young leaders Mishra has praised are party president Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, M Venkaiah Naidu and Rajnath Singh.
Mishra's letter to Advani has come in the wake of the latter's blog posting expressing disappointment at the state of affairs in the party.
Advani had stated that mood in BJP is not upbeat and NDA has failed to rise to the occasion.
The senior leader also criticised the BJP decision to induct tainted former minister of Mayawati cabinet in Uttar Pradesh, Babu Singh Kushwaha into the party-fold as well as the decisions taken in Karnataka and Jharkhand.
Mishra was at the receiving end of the ire of Advani and BJP leaders like Yashwant Sinha, Swaraj and Jaitley who had prevailed and forced him to withdraw his candidature. In his letter, Mishra suggests to Advani that he should retire.
“It is like Tendulkar batting for India in his late 40s- team is bound to lose- let's make way for the young-country has changed- please realise this basic fact,” he said.
Praising Advani for his contributions, Mishra says it is time he understood that the “youthful nation” is now attracted to leaders like Modi, Jaitley and Swaraj.
“It is time for you and Dr Joshi (Murli Manohar Joshi) to hang the boot- out of respect and BJP (Indian) culture none of these people would say this to you on your face, but it is high time- you realise that the nation rejected us in 2004 and 2009.
Let them have clarity over Narendra Bhai or anyone else,” Mishra said. He suggests that Advani should take a dignified exit. “It is time for you to read books and spend time with your grand kids,” he said.
Advani had also referred to film actor A K Hangal, who has made a comeback to movies at the age of 97. Referring to this, Mishra said, “Country is not keen on having A K Hangal but Amir Khan or Ranbir Kapoor, accept this fact and move on.”
