Senior BJP leader and former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani has distanced himself from a memoir written by his former aide, Vishwambhar Srivastava, which recalls their 32-year-old association.
Mr. Advani’s secretary Deepak Chopra released a statement on Thursday saying, “It has come to our notice that a book titled Advaniji ke saath 32 saal authored by Shri Vishwambhar Srivastava, published by Anil Prakashan, Delhi, is being released on Friday in New Delhi. It may be worthy to note that this book does not have the consent of Shri L.K. Advani and has been published against his wishes.”
Further enquiry on just what was in the book that Mr. Advani objected to elicited no comment.
The book looks at Mr. Advani and Mr. Srivastava’s 32-year-old association and has anecdotes relating to Mr. Advani’s political career to which Mr. Srivastava was a witness.
The book recalls that Mr. Advani was against the entry of his son, Jayant, into electoral politics and refused to allow him to contest from Gandhinagar in Gujarat in 1989 after Mr. Advani had won both that seat and the New Delhi seat. In any event, Mr. Advani retained Gandhinagar for himself (a constituency that he still represents) and New Delhi was contested again, and won by film star Rajesh Khanna on a Congress ticket.
Babri demolitionThe book also recalls the fateful events of December 6, 1992, the day the Babri Masjid was demolished. “As Advaniji started speaking to the crowd, he noticed a few Kar Sevaks on the three domes of the Masjid, he announced that they were to come down after hoisting the Bhagwa Dhwaj [saffron flag]. Some people suggested that those on the domes were Marathi speakers and could not understand his appeal. He then sent Pramod Mahajan to find out, who returned and told Advaniji that while he was appealing to those on the dome, many Kar Sevaks had already done irreparable harm to the foundation of the building. Advaniji’s face fell and he appeared distressed.”
The book will be released by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy.
