Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Thursday night virtually announced his retirement from active politics saying henceforth he would not contest elections and refrain from power politics.
He made the announcement at a Bharatiya Janata Party rally at the historic Shivaji Park in Mumbai to mark the silver jubilee celebrations of the party.
Vajpayee's dramatic announcement came during his brief speech at the end of the nearly three-hour long BJP rally in which he likened Lal Kishenchand Advani and Pramod Mahajan to Ram and Laxman.
He had made a similar announcement in the Rajya Sabha before the 1999 elections.
Narrating a story from the Ramayana, he said his role has now become one like Parshuram who was angry over the breaking of Shiv Dhanush and wanted to take revenge for the "misadventure".
But when Parshuram came to know of the avtar of Lord Ram, the sage participated in Ram's coronation ceremony after his return to Ayodhya with Laxman from the 14-year exile.
Vajpayee's speech contained only this short story as he said, "I have nothing to say more when our Ram and Laxman are ready."