Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan welcomes Advani and Rajnath. (PTI)

Bhopal, Sept. 22: Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s poetic jibes have created only a flutter in the BJP and not a storm.

After the party leadership yesterday hinted at making L.K. Advani the candidate for Prime Minister, Vajpayee had sent a letter with oblique references to a comeback, unfinished tasks and “obstacles” raised by “one’s own”.

Advani supporters, taken aback by uncomfortable interpretations of the letter, today reiterated their positions on the leadership issue. They said the fact of Advani being the tallest leader after Vajpayee was not open to dispute.

Indications are that the core committee has decided to set up an election panel headed by Advani, sending out a signal on who will be leading the party in the next election.

The committee, which will have party president Rajnath Singh as a member, will oversee campaign and strategy-making. This will automatically bring Advani to the centre stage even if no announcement is made about the prime ministerial candidate.

Vajpayee’s letter could not egg on Advani’s detractors to speak up, not even dissenters like Murli Manohar Joshi and Yashwant Sinha.

Joshi refused to speak on the leadership issue to the media, holding his silence despite the provocation provided by leaders such as Jaswant Singh, M. Venkaiah Naidu and Ram Naik who had spoken in favour of Advani yesterday. He did not beat even his favourite “there-are-many-leaders” theme.

Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad formally restricted the choice between Advani and Vajpayee.

Joshi’s silence was taken by party insiders as a sign of the growing belief that Advani cannot be robbed of his rightful claim.

That Joshi was under pressure was reflected in a gaffe he made on the Ram temple. In response to questions, he ended up saying the BJP had never promised to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

As this sent shock waves through the news conference, Joshi got an opportunity to redeem the situation by explaining that the BJP was not building the temple but only helping the cause. It’s the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas that is supposed to build the temple.

But there were red faces in the party when TV channels flashed his one-liner.

Other leaders, too, felt the leadership controversy was meaningless. One leader said, “If elections are held within a few months, what’s the option before the BJP? No other leader is prepared to take the mantle as of now. Advaniji will lead as Vajpayeeji is not fit enough to do the job.”