Man who doesnt know when to stop ------------------------------------------ He has spent a lifetime and built a party for over 6 decades. He has made great sacrifice in 1995, when he suggested Vajpayee as PM-nominee of BJP. Subsequently, he used his sagacity and political acumen and propelled the party as credible alternative to govern the nation. But he is human and hence fallible. The year was 1992. Day was 6th December. An extreme sense of religious pride was manifested in the most blatant fashion at Ayodhya throwing the country in middle ages. The Mandir movement was not started by Mr. Advani; but he definitely took it to a new level and generated a mass hysteria through the Rath Yatra. Although Lalu Prasad stopped the Yatra in Bihar; he couldn’t stop the movement. Why blame Lalu; Advani himself couldn’t stop it. Many years later, he said multiple times, that 6th Dec 1992 was the saddest day of his life. It was the most painful moment for him. It was an admission to a fact that after taking a movement to pinnacle, he just went too far. He didn’t know when to stop. After Vajpayee era, Advani underwent an image make-over. None of the contentious issues which symbolized ‘hardline Hindutva’ figured on his agenda. He became ‘soft’ and ‘secular’. So much so, that In 2005, even Jinnah became ‘secular’ as per Advani’s definition. This was blasphemy. It outraged the Parivar, amused his opponents and astonished the people at large. Academically, there may be some merit in what Advani said; but politically it was a disaster. He alienated his core constituency without gaining new. Once again he made a mistake about not knowing when to stop in his attempt of image makeover. He just went too far. Then came 2009 elections. An 80+ yr old tallest leader of BJP had an excellent opportunity to create a successor and take a rightful position of revered family patriarch for himself. Unarguably in good health, Advani thought that his time was not over. A lackluster campaign and a non-fight resulted in heavy loss for BJP in 2009. The least Advani could have done was to step aside. But he remained defiant to give up his position and didn’t make way to young leaders. He stalled any succession plan – except perhaps making Sushma Swaraj as opposition leader in Loksabha. BJP was unable to sort out its leadership issues and remained in shambles until 2013. Finally, RSS intervened. Sensing the mood of the cadre and anti-incumbency against the ruling Congress, they sorted out leadership issue within the BJP. Once again, the architect of BJP and its tallest leader didn’t fathom when he should stop projecting himself as the sole-leader of the BJP – until of course, he was replaced by Modi. Since June 2013, Advani is sulking. He is not accepting the fact that his opposition to Narendra Modi will end up party losing respect for him. His sacrifices will be quickly forgotten if he doesn’t give his blessings to Modi and make way. Advani is past and Modi is present. People want to live in present – not in past. Advani has to recognize and accept that. His party will always be grateful to him for the seminal work he has done for BJP. And so will India. But his greatness has diminished already and if he continues throwing tantrums, it will evaporate. He has finally settled for Gandhinagar. Ideal decision would have been announcing retirement from active politics and not running for Loksabha. (Of course, that should have been done before sulking). Anyway, his party will still be happy to celebrate his 90th birthday in the Central Hall of the Parliament. But for that to happen, he needs to stop harboring his ambition of desperately occupying seat at the power-table. “Bow out graciously, Mr. Advani, if you want to be remembered with respect and affection by the party you have created and built!”
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 08:18:42 +0000
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