New Delhi: Senior BJP leader L. K. Advani is likely to be given a Rajya Sabha seat in May 2019 from Gujarat. BJP President Amit Shah is contesting from Advani’s Gandhinagar seat and if he gets elected to the Lok Sabha, Advani will replace him in the Rajya Sabha. In other words, the two are swapping seats.

Sources in the BJP headquarters said that Advani has been sounded out about this swap before the first lot of candidates were announced and has been told that he is ageing and therefore contesting an election may prove tough, but he remains a tall leader for the party. Advani has retained the Gandhinagar seat six times.

The omission of the 91-year-old BJP stalwart’s name from the list of candidates has given rise to many speculations about his political future and whether it signals the end of the poll road for him. Sources cite his age and health factors as the reasons for dropping his name from the candidates list.

Advani was elected to the RS for four consecutive terms and to the LS on seven occasions. Though he has been marginalised by the ruling party since 2014, sources say that the party is not averse to the idea of giving him one more chance in RS.