If the leadership accepted and allowed Advani to contest from Bhopal, it would have meant that Advani was still calling the shots. If the leadership insisted on Gandhinagar, and Advani refused, it would also show that the patriarch had the strength to defy the top leadership's diktat.
It was then that Modi called on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who advised him to at least call on Advani once, given his seniority, and tell him that his adamance would send a wrong message down the line. This was followed up by the RSS chief personally speaking to Advani over phone.
Advani on Thursday evening announced he would contest from Gandhinagar, shortly after party president Rajnath Singh issued a statement saying that it was for Advani to choose whether to contest from Gandhinagar or Bhopal, seeking to end a 24-hour drama that exposed the simmering tensions between him and Narendra Modi.
Advani, who has been sulking since yesterday over the party decision to field him from Gandhinagar against his wish of Bhopal, said Modi came to him this morning and "emphasised that the people of Gujarat are keen that I represent Gandhinagar Lok Sabha once again."
"I have represented the state both in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Having represented Gandhinagar constituency in the Lok Sabha since 1991, I have decided to contest the 2014 general elections from Gandhinagar itself," Advani said in the statement, bringing to an end the raging row over his constituency.
Advani said Rajnath Singh had conveyed to him the desire of the Gujarat unit of BJP and the decision of Election Committee that he should contest from Gandhinagar.
Today, Singh informed him that the Madhya Pradesh unit of BJP had also suggested his name for contesting from Bhopal and that after consulting all colleagues in the Parliamentary Board and the Election Committee "it has been agreed that the choice between the two Parliamentary seats should be left to me.
"I am deeply touched by this gesture of my party colleagues. I had some weeks ago said that I would be contesting the Parliamentary election from Gandhinagar itself. I have been integrally connected with Gujarat since migrating from Karachi in 1947."
