Advani makes a bid to attract Muslim vote

Ever since LK Advani rode to fame on his first controversial rath yatra""from Somnath to Ayodhya ""evolving new discourses on Indian politics during yatras have become a signature political action. He did the same during his second (1997) yatra. Today's leg of his latest, the Bharat Uday Yatra, was devoted exclusively to Muslims and their relationship with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

As Advani's chariot began its onward journey to Punjab, he launched a blistering attack on the Congress and said the Congress had developed a vested interest in keeping "the Muslim community backward frightened and aloof". "It (the Congress) has encouraged the most regressive forces in the Muslim society and prevented the community from sharing the benefits of the economic development," Advani said.

His exhortation to Muslims stood in sharp contrast to his clarion call for the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh at the site of the Babri mosque in 1990. But 14 years - a long time in politics""appeared to have taught Advani to talk of conciliation and compromises and not confrontation.

He lavished praise on the community for the change in its attitude. He said Muslims had learnt to reject tokenism""when the Mulayam Singh Yadav government offered a holiday on Friday, for instance. Similarly, he was appreciative of the stand taken by the Deoband school of Islamic thought on supporting a ban on cow-slaughter. "All these are welcome signs," he said.

That Advani chose the Muslim issue at the fag end of his first phase of Bharat Uday Yatra in an area, which has virtually no Muslims, evoked curiosity among the local BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders. They had expected Advani to speak on the government's achievements in the farm sector and reduction of interest on farm loans. Advani did refer to these issues but fleetingly.

When asked why he had chosen the Muslim theme, Advani told Business Standard, "I tried to focus on the issue in order to put things in perspective" referring to his interactions with Muslim leaders during the course of the yatra.

But indication were that he was trying to set the political agenda for the next leg of the yatra which will begin from March 30 from Porbander, the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi, and pass through Ayodhya on April 6.

The second phase of journey assumes significance because this region was most affected by communal polarisation after Advani's first rath yatra and also the most radicalised by Hindu rhetoric. So his words will mean different things to Muslims and the RSS cadres.

Talk of conciliation is influenced by his experience in the government as the deputy prime minister. "We have seen change in the attitude of Muslims and we are expecting a breakthrough after the election," he said. His party has only a limited role in the Punjab elections, where the SAD has conceded only three Lok Sabha seats to the BJP. Though his rath evoked a rousing response in certain parts of Punjab, Advani was careful to mention the SAD as a valuable ally all though his speeches.

BJP sources said tension between the SAD and the BJP over the expansion of the party's bases is palpable. The lukewarm response of the Akalis during the course of his journey was indicative of the strain between the NDA's two important alliance partners. But there are enough indications to suggest that the NDA has gained substantial ground in Punjab at the expense of the Congress.