Pro-active Advani aims to put party in poll mode

The spell of inertia and hopelessness that had gripped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) following the Lok Sabha defeat and the removal of M Venkiah Naidu as party president appears to be ending.

All the indications that BJP chief LK Advani is going to be an aggressive and proactive president, who will put the party in an election mode, premised on the calculation that the Lok Sabha elections could be held earlier than scheduled.

The evidence that Advani intended to take things in hand had been there for some time. But it became sharply visible when former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a statement in August 2004 that the National Democratic Alliance had lost the elections because of Narendra Modi and that it would have been better for the alliance if the Gujarat chief minister had quit.

When the statement appeared Advani intervened immediately in Modi's favour and persuaded Vajpayee to say he had been misquoted. But the damage was done.

Sensing that the party organisation was looking for a scapegoat for the electoral defeat, almost 50 MLAs in Gujarat launched a signature campaign against Modi, who is facing a wave of dissidence with many MLAs emboldened by the impression that a move against him would be welcomed by at least some quarters in the party.

Accordingly, two anti-Modi members of Parliament""Vallabhai Kathiria (Rajkot) and AK Patel (Rajya Sabha)""known to have encouraged the MLAs, met Advani after the BJP Parliamentary party meeting on the steps of Parliament.

Their intention was to lobby with the party president for a change of leadership in Gujarat.

But the moment Advani spotted them, he lost his temper and asked them off any such move in no uncertain terms. "What do you think you are doing? It is the one government the party has where things are happening. And you want to spoil that also? Do you know how much you damage the party each time you launch such a campaign?"

Advani thundered without bothering about the fact that about 20 people were standing around them listening to every word.

The two MPs just slunk away, aghast at his reaction but a strong message had gone to Gujarat that dissidence against Modi will not be tolerated, no matter who fanned it. The real political implication of the incident is clear: it is Advani saying: "I am the boss".