The recent comments of L K Advani (which appear as if he is preferring Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over Narendra Modi) have made one thing clear. Within BJP, Modi has passionate followers but he has even more aggressive opponents and there is no evidence yet that his supporters constitute the majority. The controversy which followed his comments and the subsequent clarifications issued by the BJP president clearly indicated that Advani cannot be ignored both within and outside BJP.
This recent event made me wonder whether Narendra Modi’s (Namo) ascent to the very top of the BJP, and his selection as the party's presumptive prime minister is ever going to see the light of the day.
First of all Namo has to be selected as the tallest leader of the BJP and for sure the choice has to be unanimous from within the BJP. Once this hurdle has been crossed, Namo will have to gain acceptability with the current as well as the future allies. In this two step sequential process, Namo is finding it hard to stand steadfast on the first step leave apart climbing on to the second step. And in this first step it is utmost surprising that a leader like L K Advani will lead the charge against Namo.
Despite being in opposite camps, they have one thing in common. Both have built their carriers on the Hindutva plank -– started by Advani in the form of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement, which led to communal polarization whose apogee was reached perhaps in the Gujarat riots while Namo was the chief minister of Gujarat. But Advani was quick to realise that this in the long run will have a negative image on his political career and so being under the shadow of Atal Behari Vajpayee (who enjoyed a hugely moderate and inclusive image) he was able to rehabilitate his image so much so that in the last elections he was the unanimous choice as the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate. Modi is yet to get that opportunity where he can do a image makeover and gain popular acceptability both within and outside the BJP. What is expected out of Advani at this crucial juncture is that he should play a constructive role and guide Modi into an image makeover and not create more confusion.
Politics is strange, Advani is the most experienced leader of BJP and he is still bent upon creating negativity for BJP – or is this his style of trying his luck at the post of the prime minister once again.
