Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani will not attend the party's Oct 27 Patna rally.

 

 

 "Advani will not attend the BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rally in Patna Oct 27," BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar told mediapersons here Friday.

 

 Ananth Kumar downplayed Advani's decision not to attend the rally. 

 

 "It is not possible for all the top leaders to attend the 100 rallies the party has planned to hold across the country before the 2014 parliamentary elections. Advani attended the Bhopal rally and will participate in some more in future," he said.

 

 He rubbished the speculation that Advani will not attend the rally to keep his close relationship with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar intact.

 

 It was Nitish Kumar and his party Janata Dal-United (JD-U) which lauded Advani and tried to project him as a capable leader fit to lead the country instead of Modi.

 

 BJP has hired 10 trains and several buses to bring its supporters here for the rally.

 

 Since last month, BJP leaders have been busy touring different parts of the state to mobilise support for the rally. 

 

 After Nitish Kumar broke the JD-U alliance with the BJP in June over the projection of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party's prime ministerial candidate, this rally will be the first show of strength by the BJP in Bihar.