New Delhi: It was the end of a three-decade relationship as veteran BJP leader and former deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani cast his vote in the Delhi assembly elections Saturday. He had been a Gujarat voter since 1991 and it was there that he cast his vote in the Lok Sabha election last year.
The 92-year-old, who was a voter from Ahmedabad’s Jamalpur-Khadia assembly constituency, is no longer in the voting list for Gujarat.
L.K.Advani got his name deleted from the voters list of Gujarat. The asssciation ends that started in 1991. pic.twitter.com/S7I9QcCzKs
— Sheela Bhatt (@sheela2010) February 9, 2020
“L.K. Advani’s name has been shown in the deleted voters list in our records…If he has got his name deleted from Ahmedabad electoral rolls and registered in New Delhi he can vote there now but not here anymore,” Gujarat chief electoral officer S. Murali Krishna was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
According to a source in the BJP, Advani now lists his Delhi residence as his permanent address.
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A long relationship with Gujarat
Advani made his Lok Sabha election debut in 1989, when he won from Delhi.
He has had a close association with Gujarat since 1991, when he won his first Lok Sabha election from Gandhinagar. He had contested from New Delhi as well, but chose to retain Gandhinagar — contesting against Bollywood star Rajesh Khanna in Delhi, his victory margin was just over 1,500 votes.
He then shifted base to the city and went on to represent the constituency six times before he was replaced by former BJP president Amit Shah as the party candidate for 2019.
On Saturday, Advani cast his vote at Atal Adarsh Vidyalaya on Delhi’s Aurangzeb Road, which falls in the New Delhi assembly constituency. His daughter, TV personality Pratibha Advani, voted with him.
Advani has been residing in New Delhi with his daughter for some time now, but would fly down to Gujarat every election to cast his vote.
The leader is credited with building the BJP as a major force in Indian politics. From two Lok Sabha seats in 1984, the party went on to win 85 in 1989.
Inputs from Shanker Arnimesh
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No longer even a simple MP. Unclear how he retains his Aurangzeb Road mansion, adjacent to the Cabinet Secretary’s.