By Praveen Patil on
After a prolonged illness, lying in his deathbed, King Bindusara was still scheming to anoint his favourite son, Susima, as his successor to the throne of the Mauryan Empire. Despite the fact that Prince Susima had failed in his duty as the Governor of Takshashila, despite him being hugely unpopular and known to be a bad administrator, King Bindusara was partial towards his first born son from his favourite wife Ajivika.
Modi most popular leader in BJP: Rajnath
On the opposing side was India’s destiny. He was a fearless warrior, a great administrator (as Governor of Ujjain) and an extremely popular prince among the masses as well as Ministers. He was Ashoka the Great, born to Bindusara and a low ranked wife. All the palace intrigues, the vile hostility of assorted noblemen and even the mighty King Bindusara’s scheming couldn’t stop Ashoka the Great from his tryst with destiny. Ashoka was an idea whose time had come in 269 BC.
History remembers King Bindusara as merely the father of Ashoka the Great (or the successor to Chandra Gupta Maurya). When kings fail history, they become nothing but forgettable footnotes of history.
Circa 2013: The farce of repeating history
Today, Chief Minister Narendra Modi of Gujarat is not only riding a wave of unprecedented popular support but is also swimming against the tide of modern day noblemen. Not just scheming politicians of the Congress, a biased media, an intellectually dishonest intelligentsia and assorted limousine liberals, but also his own party elders are trying to curb his rise to the throne of India. It is as if one man with just the support of the unwashed masses is fighting every known political force in Delhi.
There was a time in the 1990s when almost everybody turned to LK Advani to solve all internal problems of the BJP and set right personal egos of the leaders. From that highpoint, Advani’s descent into the morass of factional politics is a tragic tale of decline and fall.
Why has it become so necessary to prevent the rise of Narendra Modi, especially for someone like Advani who has built the BJP literally from a scratch? The primary reason for this is that Narendra Modi represents change, just like Emperor Ashoka did more than two millennia ago. The tsunami called NaMo can potentially sweep away everything in its vicinity, including all other claimants to the throne of India.
Carefully nurtured Delhi-based systems feel threatened by the rise of Narendra Modi, for politics will never be the same again. The likes of LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Sonia Gandhi, etc, will lose their status as national leaders and the baton will deservingly pass on to State satraps. Confronted by the phenomenon called NaMo, the high command-centric structure of political parties feels utterly helpless.
In the past fortnight, the once grand strategist of the BJP has started spreading his pawns on the chessboard to check the advances of NaMo. The patriarch reaching out to Nitin Gadkari to offer him the post of chairmanship of the party’s campaign committee is nothing but a farce. Overnight all of his opposition to Gadkari’s presumed misdeeds has vanished in thin air.
On reading LK Advani’s blog
It all began with the assertion of Uma Bharati on the primacy of Advani in the BJP, which was recently seconded by Sushma Swaraj. If one carefully looks at all the people who are creating all this noise in favour of Advani, which is now becoming synonymous with opposition to Modi, one would realise that all of them are either spent political forces or rootless wonders.
Such a cabal of Delhi-based politicians needs the legitimacy of ground support and that is the reason why Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is being pitted as a counter to Narendra Modi and his development agenda. Equating Shivraj Singh Chouhan with Narendra Modi at every possible platform and creating unnecessary media typhoons has become a new pastime for the patriarch.
Historic opportunity for the BJP
Interestingly, the historic parallel of the rise of Ashoka does not end there, for his biggest initial threat had come from Takshashila, which is now a part of Bihar governed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Ashoka was crowned the Emperor only after quelling the Takshashila rebellion.
Today the BJP has the historic opportunity to chart a new course by anointing Narendra Modi as the future Prime Minister of India. Instead the party is falling into the Takshashila trap of the NDA mirage.
This historic moment can give the first great opportunity to create a legitimate Hindu vote that can provide electoral victories without the party having to pander to the on-Hindus. More importantly, it is an opportunity to realise the dream of Swami Vivekananda in his 150 birth anniversary year – of uniting the mad house of castes known as India.
In less than a week from now, we will know what path the BJP will take. Will it fall prey to the mirage of NDA expansion or will it chose to be the party that emerges victorious under a popular leader is the trillion dollar question that will be answered at the Goa conclave (both objectives are not mutually exclusive, by the way).
Next weekend’s National Executive meeting in Goa will also tell us whether Advani would end up merely as a Bindusara like footnote of history or will he facilitate the great change like a sage. The BJP and its noblemen must realise that just like 269 BC, in 2013 AD NaMo is an idea whose time has come.
Source: http://www.niticentral.com/2013/06/03/advani-is-playing-king-bindusara-85031.html
After a prolonged illness, lying in his deathbed, King Bindusara was still scheming to anoint his favourite son, Susima, as his successor to the throne of the Mauryan Empire. Despite the fact that Prince Susima had failed in his duty as the Governor of Takshashila, despite him being hugely unpopular and known to be a bad administrator, King Bindusara was partial towards his first born son from his favourite wife Ajivika.
Modi most popular leader in BJP: Rajnath
On the opposing side was India’s destiny. He was a fearless warrior, a great administrator (as Governor of Ujjain) and an extremely popular prince among the masses as well as Ministers. He was Ashoka the Great, born to Bindusara and a low ranked wife. All the palace intrigues, the vile hostility of assorted noblemen and even the mighty King Bindusara’s scheming couldn’t stop Ashoka the Great from his tryst with destiny. Ashoka was an idea whose time had come in 269 BC.
History remembers King Bindusara as merely the father of Ashoka the Great (or the successor to Chandra Gupta Maurya). When kings fail history, they become nothing but forgettable footnotes of history.
Circa 2013: The farce of repeating history
Today, Chief Minister Narendra Modi of Gujarat is not only riding a wave of unprecedented popular support but is also swimming against the tide of modern day noblemen. Not just scheming politicians of the Congress, a biased media, an intellectually dishonest intelligentsia and assorted limousine liberals, but also his own party elders are trying to curb his rise to the throne of India. It is as if one man with just the support of the unwashed masses is fighting every known political force in Delhi.
There was a time in the 1990s when almost everybody turned to LK Advani to solve all internal problems of the BJP and set right personal egos of the leaders. From that highpoint, Advani’s descent into the morass of factional politics is a tragic tale of decline and fall.
Why has it become so necessary to prevent the rise of Narendra Modi, especially for someone like Advani who has built the BJP literally from a scratch? The primary reason for this is that Narendra Modi represents change, just like Emperor Ashoka did more than two millennia ago. The tsunami called NaMo can potentially sweep away everything in its vicinity, including all other claimants to the throne of India.
Carefully nurtured Delhi-based systems feel threatened by the rise of Narendra Modi, for politics will never be the same again. The likes of LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Sonia Gandhi, etc, will lose their status as national leaders and the baton will deservingly pass on to State satraps. Confronted by the phenomenon called NaMo, the high command-centric structure of political parties feels utterly helpless.
Advani’s statement on Chouhan has been misunderstood: BJP
In the past fortnight, the once grand strategist of the BJP has started spreading his pawns on the chessboard to check the advances of NaMo. The patriarch reaching out to Nitin Gadkari to offer him the post of chairmanship of the party’s campaign committee is nothing but a farce. Overnight all of his opposition to Gadkari’s presumed misdeeds has vanished in thin air.
On reading LK Advani’s blog
It all began with the assertion of Uma Bharati on the primacy of Advani in the BJP, which was recently seconded by Sushma Swaraj. If one carefully looks at all the people who are creating all this noise in favour of Advani, which is now becoming synonymous with opposition to Modi, one would realise that all of them are either spent political forces or rootless wonders.
Such a cabal of Delhi-based politicians needs the legitimacy of ground support and that is the reason why Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is being pitted as a counter to Narendra Modi and his development agenda. Equating Shivraj Singh Chouhan with Narendra Modi at every possible platform and creating unnecessary media typhoons has become a new pastime for the patriarch.
Historic opportunity for the BJP
Interestingly, the historic parallel of the rise of Ashoka does not end there, for his biggest initial threat had come from Takshashila, which is now a part of Bihar governed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Ashoka was crowned the Emperor only after quelling the Takshashila rebellion.
Today the BJP has the historic opportunity to chart a new course by anointing Narendra Modi as the future Prime Minister of India. Instead the party is falling into the Takshashila trap of the NDA mirage.
This historic moment can give the first great opportunity to create a legitimate Hindu vote that can provide electoral victories without the party having to pander to the on-Hindus. More importantly, it is an opportunity to realise the dream of Swami Vivekananda in his 150 birth anniversary year – of uniting the mad house of castes known as India.
In less than a week from now, we will know what path the BJP will take. Will it fall prey to the mirage of NDA expansion or will it chose to be the party that emerges victorious under a popular leader is the trillion dollar question that will be answered at the Goa conclave (both objectives are not mutually exclusive, by the way).
Next weekend’s National Executive meeting in Goa will also tell us whether Advani would end up merely as a Bindusara like footnote of history or will he facilitate the great change like a sage. The BJP and its noblemen must realise that just like 269 BC, in 2013 AD NaMo is an idea whose time has come.
Source: http://www.niticentral.com/2013/06/03/advani-is-playing-king-bindusara-85031.html
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