Vajpayee takes swipe at new party chief

He said that after Deen Dayal Upadhyaya8217;s death, people in the Parivar turned to Dattopant Thengadi for advice. When Thengadi died recently, and people were wondering who could take his place as adviser, 8216;8216;everyone said Advani8217;8217;, Vajpayee said. The comparison was a particularly curious one because Thengadi was openly critical of the Vajpayee government, and there was considerable tension between the Vajpayee 8216;8216;liberalisers8217;8217; and the SJM hardliners.

If Vajpayee took a dig at Advani, Venkaiah Naidu seemed to take another one at the former PM. Lavishly praising Advani8217;s leadership qualities, Naidu said: 8216;8216;Advaniji may be 77 years old, but he has the energy of a 37-year-old. He belongs to the younger generation of leaders8230; he has more energy than us, he has personal discipline in food habits and other habits also8217;8217;. An inadvertent swipe at Vajpayee who is known to be fond of food and life?