Sources close to the BJP headquarters and that of the Sangh Parivar headquarters in Jhandewalan, New Delhi point out that former deputy prime-minister and former BJP president Lal Krishna Advani may make a ‘comeback’ to mainstream politics in the party in the aftermath of the disappointing show put up by the ruling BJP at the Centre in the just-concluded Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh (where the party was voted out of power).

Seniors Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi (another former president) who were denied party tickets during the 2011 Lok Sabha polls would be given tickets to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in April-May, it is categorically reported from sources close to the Sangh Parivar.

It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi (a protégé of Advani who was propped up by Advani to become the party’s prime-ministerial candidate during 2011) cold-shouldered Advani at a swearing-in ceremony a few months back, shocking party cadres and others.

Advani is widely considered as the architect of BJP’s rise to prominence during the nineties thanks to his ‘Rath Yatra’ which culminated in razing down the controversial Babri Masjid during Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s tenure in December, 1992. Sangh Parivar, which controls the proceedings in the BJP, is said to have propped up he idea of bringing back seniors in order to check-mate the influence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah.