LK Advani was made the BJP parliamentary party chairperson on Friday following which he nominated Sushma Swaraj as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and re-nominated Arun Jaitley as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

Advani would mentor the new-generation leadership in the party, something that was amply clear in his message to the 112-odd members of the BJP parliamentary party, who turned up for Friday?s meeting.

?I am not the one to quit a yatra mid way; this yatra will continue through one?s life… This is a new chapter in my life,? he said on Friday evening, before asking Sushma and Jaitley to take over the responsibilities ?that they had been discharging anyway?.

The concluding part of the BJP?s transition will play out on Saturday, where Rajnath Singh (58) is expected to step down as party president to make way for 52-year-old Nitin Gadkari. Advani told the party MPs:

?We must shed the railway compartment mentality, where the occupants of the compartment are usually loath to accept a new entrant?. Advani expressed his ?sense of relief? and ?sense of satisfaction? at the turn of events. Sushma said a ?brother-sister combination would lead the BJP parliamentary party, in the two Houses. Jaitley said that his generation of leaders had learnt their initial lessons in politics from the Atal-Advani duo, and Sushma?s induction as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha will re-energise the party in the Lower House.

Besides Sushma and Jaitley, Narendra Modi found a special mention in Advani?s speech?an indication of the place the Gujarat chief minister would continue to find in the party?s scheme of things. At the beginning of the proceedings of the BJP parliamentary party meeting, the BJP parliamentary party constitution was amended to include a provision for a new post?that of BJP parliamentary party chairperson.