I wanted to retire when I turned 80 last year: Advani

Advani told NDTV 24×7 that the thought of announcing retirement from politics came to his mind when he started writing his memoirs ‘My Country My Life’.

“When I started writing the book, somewhere at the back of my mind was that I had hoped that it would be over much before November 2007 when I complete 80 and may be I make an announcement,” he said.

Asked whether he meant retirement, he said “that is right. Retiring from politics.” On what prompted the thought of retirement, he said, “I had achieved a lot in public life, achieved a lot in politics.” “What I have written in the book, when I completed, it gave me a sense of fulfillment. I did say to some friends that one should retire when he is in good health,” he said.

Advani said the thought about retirement came again when he was announced as the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate in December last year but he felt doing so at that point of time would not be in the party’s interest.

Advani said he accepted the party’s decision to project him as the PM candidate because in a way it “cast aside all the earlier misunderstandings and accepted me and passed a resolution to have me lead the party in the coming elections.

He was obviously referring to the Jinnah episode in 2005 which cost him his job as the party chief and marginalised him in the party and in the Sangh Parivar.

In his memoirs, Advani has said he had thought of retiring from politics at the height of the Jinnah controversy.

Advani said the thought of retirement came to his mind again when the party decided to project him as PM candidate.

“I felt…now what is the need,” he said but added that he decided against retiring as he “felt at that point of time if I were to do anything, it would hurt the party.”