The 91-year-old BJP leader LK Advani was speaking out for the first time after the party announced the decision to field Amit Shah from Advani's traditional Gandhinagar seat. Days after being dropped from BJP list of Lok Sabha contenders, party veteran Lal Krishna Advani wrote a blog, emphasising that the saffron party advocates for freedom of choice and does not believe in branding people “anti-national” for their different political stand. In the piece, he urged the party to “look back, look ahead and look within” and stressed on “democracy and democratic traditions” within.

The BJP veteran, one of the party's founder members, has been smarting since he was shafted and BJP president Amit Shah decided to contest from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, a seat Mr. Advani, has held for six terms.

Mr. Advani used the blog to reach out to his voters, expressing gratitude to the people of Gandhinagar, "who have elected me to the Lok Sabha six times since 1991. Their love and support have always overwhelmed me."

He said elections are "also an occasion for honest introspection by all the stakeholders in Indian democracy - political parties, mass media, authorities conducting the election process and, above all, the electorate."

The 91-year-old BJP leader LK Advani was speaking out for the first time after the party announced the decision to field Amit Shah from Advani's traditional Gandhinagar seat. Days after being dropped from BJP list of Lok Sabha contenders, party veteran Lal Krishna Advani wrote a blog, emphasising that the saffron party advocates for freedom of choice and does not believe in branding people “anti-national” for their different political stand. In the piece, he urged the party to “look back, look ahead and look within” and stressed on “democracy and democratic traditions” within.

The BJP veteran, one of the party's founder members, has been smarting since he was shafted and BJP president Amit Shah decided to contest from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, a seat Mr. Advani, has held for six terms.

Mr. Advani used the blog to reach out to his voters, expressing gratitude to the people of Gandhinagar, "who have elected me to the Lok Sabha six times since 1991. Their love and support have always overwhelmed me."

He said elections are "also an occasion for honest introspection by all the stakeholders in Indian democracy - political parties, mass media, authorities conducting the election process and, above all, the electorate."