New Delhi, Jan. 8: BJP leaders swung into action today to pacify Bhairon Singh Shekhawat after the former Vice-President repeated his resolve to contest the coming elections and complicated the issue saying Atal Bihari Vajpayee should also join the fray if fit.

Party leaders spoke to Shekhawat over phone soon after he ended a news conference here before Jaswant Singh drove to his residence to persuade the veteran Rajput to discuss the issues with the top brass.

Later in the evening, BJP leaders assembled at Jaswant’s house where both Shekhawat and party chief Rajnath Singh were present. But the talks failed as Shekhawat stuck to his guns.

After the meeting, Shekhawat — who a couple of days ago had said the issue of candidate for Prime Minister was still open, in an apparent challenge to L.K. Advani — reiterated his decision to contest the Lok Sabha polls.

But he added that he bore no grudge against Rajnath, who, he said, “was not even born when I entered politics”, questioning the party chief’s credentials to decide his fate.

Rajnath had yesterday rejected the idea of the former Vice-President contesting elections, saying those who had “taken a dip in the Ganges do not aspire to take a bath in the well”.

At the news conference this morning, Shekhawat did two things: he questioned the basic premise that the prime ministerial candidate had been decided, and demanded action on allegations that the toppled Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan committed a fraud of Rs 22,000 crore.

Shekhawat said the issue of Prime Minister candidate would be settled only after the elections. Asked whether he or Vajpayee would have been better challengers to Manmohan Singh, he said: “I can’t say this myself, you should write it.”

Asked if he would like to be projected as candidate for Prime Minister, he said: “There is no law about projection. I will decide on this after winning the election.”

“Many leaders are contesting, Rajnath is contesting… are they all challenging Advani?” he shot back to a query on whether he was not challenging Advani, already anointed shadow Prime Minister.

Asked if former Prime Minister Vajpayee should contest, he said “he must if his health permits”.

Shekhawat’s claim of excellent relations with Advani rang a bit hollow when he said: “Where is the question of congratulating him for becoming the prime ministerial candidate when I was not aware of it. Nobody had consulted me before taking the decision.”

Shekhawat said he had written to the Rajasthan chief minister urging immediate investigation into the corruption charges against Raje.