New Delhi, June 9
Caught between ideology and leadership, the BJP was today forced to postpone its Parliamentary Board and office-bearers’ meeting till tomorrow to buy time to work out a compromise formula to resolve the crisis triggered by the resignation of party President L K Advani.

Even as franctic efforts were on throughout the day from Advani loyalists, led by Mr M Venkaiah Naidu, to work out a solution by way of a fresh draft resolution, the RSS assertion that it will not tolerate any dilution on its “basic ideology” left little room for manoeuvre for Mr Advani to continue as party President.

Mr Advani, who guided the party to great success in the past two decades, today appeared to be isolated within the party as even his loyalists are understood to have made it clear that they can’t tread on a path which diluted the party’s basic ideology.

A majority of leaders admitted in private that they had no option but to side with the party ideology in the event of a clash between the party ideology and an individual, even if that individual happened to be none other than Mr Advani.

Meanwhile, differences within the party ranks also came to the fore when one of the senior-most leaders and former Union Minister M M Joshi asserted that Jinnah was not secular and that there could be no compromise on the basic ideology of the party.

“I have told the party leaders, including M Venkaiah Naidu, that basic ideology (of the party) should not be diluted in any resolution that may be adopted (by the party) urging Mr Advani to withdraw his resignation,” Mr Joshi, a known detractor of Mr Advani, told newspersons here.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leaders held a series of meeting to work on a draft resolution to be taken up by the Parliamentary Board to accommodate the feelings of L K Advani, who had expressed displeasure that the resolution yesterday had not referred to his Pakistan visit or the context in which his remarks on Jinnah were made.

Sources said the fresh draft resolution, while appreciating his rich contribution to the party and also hailing his recent Pakistan tour as “historic” was categoric that Jinnah was not secular and described him as a man responsible for partition on religious ground.

Referring to the “other face of Jinnah”, particularly his espousal of the two-nation theory, the fresh resolution says judgment on Jinnah’s secular credentials cannot be established on the basis of his one off statement.

The resolution also underlines that the party cannot compromise on its basic ideology, sources said.