It
is quite amusing that people in political life sometimes live up too
literally to their name. In the parliament once, a member of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) told Atal Bihari Vajpayee (ABV),” Atalji,
aap atal rahein “. ABV was quick to retort,” Atal to hoon lekin na
bhooliye ki saath saath Bihari bhi hoon
“.
“.
Extending
the joke in the opposite way, Lal Krishna Advani, who could have been
Krishna in this battle of Kurukshetra against the Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), has chosen to be Lal(meaning red) with his commie power swinging tactics at this crucial turntable overture. The terms of engagement and all these years kept on leave no doubt that far from being the Bhishmacharya of this battle,Advani had chosen to be Yayati long ago and remain steadfast about his quest for power.
Prior to the Goa meet of the BJP, Sandhya Jain
made prescient observations on the course of the battle ahead and
debunked the exaggerated relevance of Advani to the 2014 battle. The
commonly forgotten fact with respect to 6 December 1992 is that the
event was a reaffirmation of Hindu sentiment and awareness and had been
waiting to happen. This can be seen from the writings of V.S.Naipaul,
Nirad Chaudhuri and Girilal Jain, who Advani, mentions in his
autobiography, supported the resurgent Hindutva.
But
even then in the Liberhan Commission, Advani took the apologetic route
thereby bowing down to the diktats of the ‘seculars’. The delusional
authoritarianism that Advani exercised over the BJP led to collateral
losses of the worst kind to its leadership.
The state leadership of the BJP has always been aces above the central one and all these years kept onscaling
new heights in every department. Even as recent an election as the one
in Karnataka, anyone could see that the BJP top leadership ended up
losing by giving Karnataka on a platter to the Congress! If there was
indiscipline and mismanagement all through the steady rise of BJP, it
was due to Advani and the notorious BJP D-4.
In the context of the letter
which he wrote to Rajnath Singh, Advani rues that the BJP is no longer a
party of ideals which were envisioned by Syama Prasad Mookerjee,
Deendayal Upadhyaya, Nanaji Deshmukh and A.B. Vajpayee.
However
it was the same Advani who ended up destroying BJP’s ideals the most.
Even the fact that he made the letter public instead of choosing to keep
it private, betrays his concern and voice. The timing of the
resignation drama also leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind now.
By
carrying forward the legacy of nationalism bequeathed to the Jana Sangh
by late SP Mookerjee, the BJP could have evolved as a distinct
identifiable voice of the Indian Right. But for a long time that was not
to be. In his maiden address to Jana Sangh workers in Kanpur, Advani
said that the Jana Sangh was not a ‘left’ or a ‘right’ party but merely a
‘forward looking’ one.
Shortly
after that, the first person to be expelled on the grounds of
indiscipline from the Sangh was the fiery Balraj Madhok. Madhok had
intense disagreements with both ABV and LKA on the fact that the Jana
Sangh should adopt unique policies characterizing the Indian right and
should differ from the left and the centre left. After expulsion Madhok
alleged a conspiracy and faded into oblivion while Advani continued with
his run.
The
aforementioned incident vis-à-vis Advani’s attitude would have long
standing consequences years later. Arun Shourie in his interview (watch here)
to CRI and at other forums has called all parties homogenized, even
saying that the BJP and the Congress are one party. Also, it is some
misfortune that some of the best folks on the right are now working
outside the fold of the BJP, in a disoriented way.
A
disenchanted Arun Shourie has been writing books and exposing the rot
in the system. It is to the BJP’s credit that they have allies like Shiv
Sena and Akali Dal which have never broken their alliance, come what
may. The only commonality all the non-BJP voices on the right and
centre-right share is a demand for Narendra Modi as PM candidate.
All
Congress allies have been turncoats at some point of time. But under
Advani’s blessings, now even a JD(U) blackmails BJP with its 20 odd
seats!. The indiscipline in the party that presumably a Ram Jethmalani
or a Lehar Singh Siroya may have caused is actually the majoritarian
voice within the party as well as the masses of the country, which have
begun to ‘expect’ something in a democracy versus the stubborn decisions
of the elite few, in this case Advani and the D-4.
Apropos
Advani and his censorial attitude, one is reminded of a joke from
Soviet Union – A man once wrote on a placard ‘Khrushchev is a fool’ and
started going round the Kremlin. The judge who heard his case sent him
to 14 years in prison. When he questioned the judge,” I can understand
one day sir, but why 14 years? ” The judge replied,” One day for
creating public nuisance and 14 years for letting out a state secret! “.
By making his displeasure public, Advani has broken the same very
discipline he claimed to uphold all these years.
Enter
Narendra Modi; the decision to elevate him was not only the choice of
the BJP cadre but also of the masses who wanted Congress to be decimated
completely. In the game of politics, we all understand that what
matters is not who wins or loses, but who has set the rules. Advani was
long playing with the rules of the opponents, Modi on the other hand has
managed to play with his own rules and win all the small battles.
Interestingly,
for a party like the BJP, it was assumed that it would not give
precedence to Modi over Advani given the place accorded to tradition and
respect for elders in the conservative milieu. However, since the BJP
managed to heed to its cadre and the voice of the country, the
unthinkable had happened. In the political run-up, this was like a
feather in BJP’s and Narendra Modi’s cap. The detractors were
confounded, hence the ‘secular love’ and crocodile tears for Advani.
Like the line in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ goes, “you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain“.
The actions of Advani have made him a certified villain. His flickering
non-existent ideology ended up benefiting BJP’s enemies the most. Be it
his statement on Jinnah, the Liberhan commission or his blog, Advani
had become a liability for the BJP long ago.
Now
that the drama is over, it should be seen that Advani doesn’t pull the
power strings for too long, because that will end up damaging the BJP
more than the Congress can. The point that Ashok Malik makes (Read here,
especially in the last paragraphs) is noteworthy. When the time was
right for Advani, Modi too saved him over the Jinnah fiasco but now
Advani clearly is overstaying in the camp. If tomorrow the patriarch’s
decisions interfere with the nation’s interest, the detrimental nature
of such an ego clash will come down heavily on the BJP.
Between
Modi and Advani, there is a zameen-aasmaan difference, let’s not forget
Modi gave his resignation to Vajpayee in 2002 when Vajpayee and Advani
asked for it, without hesitation. It was only when the party karyakartas
stormed; the decision had to be reverted. However, Advani did not want
to resign after the Jinnah controversy which showed his fickle
character.
Advani
also as many believe was a lot softer on UPA and Sonia Gandhi and it is
highly unlikely that Modi will let them go away scot-free if he comes
to power. Over the years, Modi has evolved beyond just the CM of a state
and a BJP leader. His winning ability cannot be questioned and the
clamour around him is growing with each passing day.
In
such circumstances, the responsibility lies with the Dhristadyumna of
this battle, Rajnath Singh, to ensure that every factor that comes in
the way of Arjuna i.e. Narendra Modi’s fight should somehow be
sidestepped.
Source: http://centreright.in/2013/06/laffaire-advani/#.Ubw7e5z3PdK
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