Advani refuses to see the writing on the wall

Advani’s resignation letter has now been turned into a poster and pasted liberally all over Lutyens Delhi. The poster basically highlights the portion of the letter where Advani says: I no longer have the feeling that this is the same idealistic party created by Dr Mookerji, Deen Dayalji, Nanaji and Vajpayeeji whose sole concern was the country, and its people. Most leaders of ours are now concerned just with their personal agendas.

If anyone thinks Advani would write this line in his letter and make it public, without knowing its repercussions, he is fooling himself. He is too smart and canny a politician not to know all this. And it is this attitude that has surprised many, for, it seems the very charge that he is leveling against others, actually applies to him even more.

For a man who could have been an elder statesman, a genuinely tall leader, respected across party lines, his actions in recent days have made him a laughing stock, and with him, even his party, to an extent. Here was a man of principles, who compromised with nothing, and at least superficially, put the nation before personal ambitions. Also a person who vowed that the service to the party was supreme. Seems all was forgotten. But that is what happens when personal ambitions turn unbridled. The result is always bad for the family and fodder for those opposed to you. You refuse to see reason, indeed the writing on the wall, and believe only what your coterie wants you to believe. And you then make judgments based on that flawed feed.

To any dispassionate observer closely watching the happenings in the BJP, it is clear that the party’s rank and file wants Narendra Modi to be brought to the forefront. He alone seems to charge them up, and only Advani, surrounded by his coterie have refused to acknowledge or notice that. There are several others in the party who would surely be hurt with Modi’s ascendance, but they are practical. For they, unlike Advani, could see the writing on the wall and fell in line. But not a sulking and bitter Advani. 

At one level, one feels for Advani, though. For, he was singularly responsible for bringing the party to the forefront with his Rath Yatra. Am sure somewhere he nurses a deep grudge that he did all the hard work, but Vajpayee occupied the most sought after chair in the country. People in the know are aware that despite the overt bonhomie, Advani never really felt good about Vajpayee ascendance, ‘at his cost’. But that is what politics is all about. Can we forget Pranab Mukherjee, who was Dr Manmohan Singh’s boss as the finance minister decades ago, but had to report to Singh after he became the Prime Minister? Of course, it all changed when Mukherjee took over as the nation’s President.

As said earlier, Advani had all the ingredients necessary to become a statesman. A clean image, articulation as good as any and despite the Babri taint, people looked up to him with some awe, if not necessarily respect. Seems he has allowed all that to disappear in one go. More so, for although the party is showing that it is upset and will try very hard to make him change his decision, there are enough indications to show that they are actually relieved that he has got the message.

Whether he has got the message or not is a different matter, but it is a fact that the euphoria generated among the party cadre at Modi’s ascendance has been punctured by his resignation and given a palpable sense of relief for the opposition. Most were actually worried about the impact that Modi might have on the voters in the run-up to the general elections, but are now enjoying taking pot shots at the party.

In all this though, there has been enough for the social media to go crazy and some of the tweets, especially have been hilarious. In response to Shashi Tharoor’s tweet that in their party, they defer to each other and not differ with each other, a particular hilarious tweet went thus: @hguptapolicy: Did not know Sonia Gandhi changed her name to "Each Other". RT @ShashiTharoor In Congress our leaders defer to each other.#

Source: http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/randomaccess/entry/advani-refuses-to-see-the-writing-on-the-wall