When a seven-decade long career, marked by game-changing initiatives, comes to a close, hyperbole is hard to avoid. It was truly the ‘end of an era’ last week when the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Lal Krishna Advani, passed the baton to Sushma Swaraj. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy loomed so large and for so long over the Bharatiya Janata Party that its fortunes became inseparable from their own personal triumphs and losses. The Atal-Advani presence was the prism though which any outsider watched the party’s rise and fall, its raging internal battles, its ideological struggles, and its increasingly awkward relationship with mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Mr. Advani himself would see his long innings as an incomplete journey. “I am not about to retire,” said the formidable rath yatri, the light touch he sought to impart to the moment failing to obscure his disappointment at the way things turned out. Unlike Mr. Vajpayee who reached the pinnacle of success, his deputy lost out more than once. At the peak of his career in 1995, Mr. Advani overrode objections from the BJP rank-and-file and the Sangh to take a backseat to the more ‘moderate’ Mr. Vajpayee. That proved a masterstroke for the BJP and future coalition-builder, but it would be 14 years before Mr. Advani was cast in the role of shadow Prime Minister.
Yet by 2009, the wheel had turned a full circle. The BJP, now deprived of the charismatic and reassuring presence of Mr. Vajpayee, once again faced isolation and rejection, with a resurgent Congress on course for a second term in office. The irony would be greater for Mr. Advani’s interesting effort towards the end of his political career to overcome his fiery rath-yatri persona. The praise he lavished on Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s August 1947 secular orientation was a necessary course correction -- as much for himself as for his party. For the BJP’s minder in Jhandewalan, however, there was no sacrilege worse than praising Jinnah, in however qualified and nuanced a manner, on Pakistani soil. It speaks to Mr. Advani’s towering stature in the BJP that he was the automatic choice to lead the party into the 2009 election. But other political factors aside, at 82, Mr. Advani was no match for the Congress troika of Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi. He also knew he had reaped as he sowed. He could not dismount the Ayodhya tiger and his party was constitutionally incapable of giving up its divisive communal agenda. With the RSS blessing the installation of Nitin Gadkari as party chief in place of Rajnath Singh, the former Deputy Prime Minister seems destined to watch his party drawn deeper into the embrace of its saffron mentor.
Keywords: BJP, L.K. Advani, Vajpayee, seven-decade long career, Sushma Swaraj, baton, BJP leadership, RSS
None can reject the individual talent in any of the BJP senior leaders, but collectively they have failed in two consecutive elections. But, I am not so learned to answer 'Why?'.
A wonderful and remarkable editorial , An excellent review of Advani's significance.Let's hope we do not fall into a single party rule again.
Interesting analysis of the transition. How much of freedom will L K Advani and the other leaders give to Nitin Gadkari? Advani has 200% more political experience than Nitin and collectively these five leaders would easily account for more than 350%. By appointing his porteges in key positions, Advani has ensured his post as the leader of BJP parliamentary party is not questioned. That the appointment had to be done before the appointment of the new BJP president is a reflection of respect for internal democracy and processes which exist in BJP. It is also a testimony of the unfilled quest of the leader in Mr Advani to choose to be 'reluctantly' pushed into posts, with a feeble attempt to cover it up with 'on popular demand of party workers' statements. Advani ensured Jaswant Singh was thrown out on flimsiest of pretexts in Shimla and that MM Joshi was pushed to Copenhegan thereby close to oblivian by hitting at the age factor just so that nobody in the party could question his moral authority to lead the party after successive defeats. Shekhawat who tried to talk sense was reminded that after becoming Vice President he was not fit to comment on BJP's political appointments. Let us see what directions Nitin is allowed to provide to BJP MPs. The first basic need is for this opposition party to ensure it attends Question Hours seriously, asks supplementary questions and grills the UPA incompetent ministers. Similarly rather than showing rabble rousing qualities whenever non BJP members speak, BJP MPs should listen to what the other members are saying so that there is a debate in which its numerous TV-byte hungry spokespersons can display their oratorical skills. But all this is only required if BJP is serious about the change and the opportunity it enjoys as a responsible opposition party. Otherwise cosmetic changes undertaken for Advani and BJP will lose relevance very fast.
While the editorial says that 'Mr. Advani was no match for the Congress troika of Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi', it doesn't explain in what respect Mr.Advani was no match to the Congress troika.
The negative publicity by both the print and electronic media was clearly responsible for the downfall of the BJP. Besides, the spectacle of the 'media for sale' effectively sealed the fortunes of the party during the elections. The contradictions and confusions within and outside the party also contributed in no small measure for the party being rejected by the people.
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