L K Advani and the bitter taste of betrayal

After the 2002 riots, it is widely known  that Vajpayee had made up his mind to sack Modi as CM of Gujarat, but that his move was blocked by Advani. Modi was an Advani protege.( So were Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, and a host of other leaders. ) And so Vajpayee's bid failed. Vajpayee, it is believed, continued to believe that if the BJP would have acted against Modi it would have won the 2004 elections.
Fast forward to 2014. Advani is the only important leader in the BJP who remained against the nomination of Modi as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate. Every other major BJP leader, including all the Advani proteges, have agreed to Modi's nomination. An important player in the whole game is the RSS. There are those who rally against the Gandhi family and point out--correctly--the Gandhi family's hold over the Congress. But what these people fail to notice or point out is the tight grip the RSS continues to exert over the BJP. Advani and Vajpayee had attempted to free the BJP from the RSS's clasp, but clearly they have failed.
Incidentally, the way Modi has behaved towards his mentor--who had saved him from losing his job after Vajpayee had made up his mind to sack Modi and who had continued to defend and protect Modi in Modi's vulnerable moments--will in my opinion continue to haunt Modi for the rest of his political career. A young turk in the BJP could in future knife Modi--if presented with an opportunity to do so--in a way similar to how Modi knifed Advani. Incidentally, Modi could never have truimphed over Advani but for the fact that a curious alignment of forces seems to have taken place in favor of Modi. First, Big Business is with Modi. This is evident when we consider that the public relations firm APCO (a top U.S. PR firm) has been engaged by Modi to do his PR. See for instance:
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-12-09/news/35689601_1_apco-worldwide-vibrant-gujarat-niira-radia

APCO reportedly charges its clients millions of dollars for its services. And where is the money coming from to pay it for doing PR for Modi?

Second, the RSS has been won over by Modi. Whether this was through giving the RSS huge amounts of funds in the present, with the promise of giving more in the future, is a matter of speculation.
Third, every single Advani protege has now turned his back on the man who built them up. Even Sushma Swaraj, with whom he was reportedly the closest to (and who he wanted to be made BJP president instead of the present incumbent Rajnath Singh) has now embraced Modi's candidature. She is 61 now, and probably fancies her chances of becoming PM to be brighter by not antagonizing the RSS who are presently for Modi. What this shows is that BJP leaders really are 'go with the way the wind is blowing' kind of leaders bereft of any deep ideological convictions.

Modi could have been got rid off later, when Haren Pandya was killed. The old firm of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah rigged up a legend of a hit squad from Hyderabad as doing the job. When the case was in the trial court, I told Advani about how the evidence was concocted and was plainly false. I provided him the defence’s forensic experts testimonies. These testimonies were from persons at the top of the field. I told him that at best Modi and company might manage a conviction from the lower court but no upper court will be able to sustain it.

That is exactly what happened. A bench of the Gujarat high court threw out the conviction and deemed that the judgment was of dubious quality and made a scathing reference to the judge who convicted. That judge was by then elevated to the Gujarat high court and hence it was an unprecedented slap on a brethern judge. Anyway after my conversation with LK Advani, he true to fashion, just wrung his hands and said nothing can be done. The matter was in the courts and let the law take its course.

The law is yet to take its course, but the laws of human nature have stayed true to form. When you are 82, you don’t become a contender, not when six out of every 10 Indians is less than 30 years old. But in not endorsing the choreographed elevation of Modi to standard-bearer of India’s only other national party, Advani is expressing a view, which he long deferred. That Narendra Modi is unfit for high office. But the times for saying that and doing something about it are long past now.

http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/1888585/column-good-guys-finish-last-ask-lk-advani

But the turn of events has led to changed internal dynamics in the saffron party. While Advani has been eclipsed, Swaraj — who had reservations over Modi — has been forced to come around. She attended Friday’s meet, ensuring she wasn’t seen as a dissident. So did Murli Manohar Joshi, another Modi-sceptic.

The real gainers, apart from Modi, are Rajnath and, to an extent, Arun Jaitley. “Rajnath has shown he can take tough decisions, if needed, in the interest of the party and in implementing the RSS’ decisions,” a BJP leader said.

Gadkari, seemingly cornered by charges of business irregularities a few months ago, is back. He is close to the RSS but still has a working relationship with Advani.

The RSS, once again, has shown it calls the shots in the party.

However, if Modi fails, Advani and Swaraj could get a second wind. And if he succeeds only partially, he may have to make way for another candidate to help cobble up a larger NDA. Rajnath seems to have a bright chance in this scenario.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/newdelhi/Snubbed-Advani-still-in-a-sulk-BJP-leaders-try-to-make-peace/Article1-1121995.aspx

Friday the 13th perhaps has turned out to be the unluckiest day in the life of the Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani. With his protégé Narendra Modi being officially named as the party’s choice for prime ministership, Advani who still nursed an ambition to hold the country’s top post finds himself isolated in the organisation he built over the years.

The astute politician has been completely outwitted by the very people whose careers he shaped. In fact, Narendra Modi the man who is going to be the brand ambassador of the saffron brigade has got this far only because of Advani’s patronage.

Not only had Advani saved him from being sacked at the Goa Conclave of the party in 2002 when Atal Behari Vajpayee had virtually made up his mind to remove the Gujarat chief minister but later gave him due protection from his other rivals in the Sangh Parivar.

These rivals included both Keshubhai Patel, the man whom Modi had replaced as the CM in 2001 and Sanjay Joshi, the RSS pracharak who once was Modi’s roommate. Needless to say that Advani too benefited since his own Gandhinagar parliamentary constituency falls in Modi’s bastion.

Several factors have contributed to Advani’s miscalculation. First, he refused to accept his rejection during the 2009 parliamentary polls when he was the prime ministerial candidate of the NDA.

Second, over the years he destroyed the party’s natural leadership to prop up leaders who simply owed their rise to him alone. Thus at this crucial juncture, majority of these leaders abandoned him and looked towards Modi for a brighter future.

Third, Advani did not give up the belief that since he had built up the party, he would continue to be its lifelong leader. That the change was inevitable was perhaps never factored in his scheme of things and he was sure that no one would dare to oppose him. He never reckoned that Modi would be his undoing.

Finally, ever since he parted ways with his one time adviser Govindacharya, Advani never found anyone who could give him sound advice.

Advani has also been receiving a lot of support from people who in his own definition of the early nineties could be best described as “pseudo secularists’’. Those who call him a moderate forget that he was a hawk who had no qualms over using religion to strengthen his base.

His effort to change his image to that of a moderate only harmed him since he tried to put himself in the Vajpayee mould to be in the race for prime ministership. He forgot to keep pace with the thinking in the Sangh Parivar that in order to have a strong NDA, it was essential for the BJP to become strong. Change in ideology to suit the interests of allies was no longer important to the new dispensation in his outfit.

But those who have followed his journey are equally acquainted with his hard-line approach during his Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra in September 1990. He was also accused of conspiracy in the demolition of the Babri Majid, which later led to a huge communal divide.

Modi’s emergence has ushered in a new chapter in the history of the BJP and indicates that the party was now ready to move forward from the position it acquired due to the contribution of both Vajpayee and Advani. While Vajpayee is unwell, Advani will find it very difficult to become relevant once again.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/How-Advani-camps-last-hope-of-stalling-Modis-anointment-fizzled-out/articleshow/22593872.cms

Post-script: Most pundits have been writing political obituaries of Advani. The fact is, similar epitaphs were written of Vajpayee in the early 90s after the rise of Advani. And yet, in 1996, coalition compulsions made the ‘inclusive’ Vajpayee the BJP’s prime ministerial choice. What if the NDA doesn’t get the 272-plus, a Modi candidacy promises? Will there be another final twist in the Advani saga?

http://www.hindustantimes.com/editorial-views-on/RajdeepSardesai/Too-soon-to-say-goodbye/Article1-1124511.aspx