Advani buys time to quit, but he has to go

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veterans L K Advani and Rajnath Singh will be replaced by younger party leaders by the end of December, sources tell CNN-IBN.

The BJP has negotiated a succession plan with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the party’s ideological guide, according to which Advani will step down as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. He will be allowed to choose his time and he is likely to step down before the next Parliament session.

Party leader Sushma Swaraj is likely to take replace Advani, who will be the chairperson of BJP's parliamentary party.

Arun Jaitley will continue as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha--he is not getting the party president’s post as was being speculated earlier. Once Rajnath Singh completes his term in December a new BJP president will be selected.

The RSS wants the post for someone who is rooted to the party, is not associated with any faction and is non-controversial. These leadership changes will be unveiled within the next three months, perhaps even before the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly elections slated for October.

The RSS is confident that the party will “overcome” its problems. “The RSS is assured that BJP leaders as a party will stand united and will face all problems and emerge stronger," said RSS leader Madan Das Devi in New Delhi on Sunday.

"We have been given such an assurance and we also feel that they will overcome problems," he said.

The BJP’s official stance though is that there is no leadership change. "Media reports about succession plans in the BJP are all speculation. Nothing has been decided yet. There is no basis for them. There is no vacancy for the leadership positions now. There are procedures and the organisational election process is on,” said former party president M Venkaiah Naidu.

"The RSS does not interfere in the party's daily functioning. Party would decide who should be the leader at an appropriate time," he said.