“ Both Nitish ji and Sharad Yadav said the NDA functioned perfectly under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L. K. Advani, whose assurances form the very basis of our alliance. We contested under Advani ji ’s leadership in 2009 and will have absolutely no hesitation in doing so again,” JD( U) general secretary K. C. Tyagi said.
Part of the reason the JD( U) could afford to openly take on Modi at its national executive in Delhi, was the fact that the Gujarat CM remains a divisive figure even within the BJP. Incensed Modi supporters even believe that Kumar’s diatribe could have had the tacit blessings of top BJP leaders who wanted to scuttle his chances.
Outrage Even though the BJP expressed outrage against Kumar’s remarks, in less than a day’s time the party’s divisions came to the fore with former finance minister Yashwant Sinha pitching for Advani. “ If Advani ji is available to lead the party and the government, then that should be the end all discussions,” he said. It may be recalled that only a few months back that Sinha had expressed his support for Modi.
Sinha’s comments found almost instant validation with even the Shiromani Akali Dal, which had been backing Modi, also expressing its support for Advani. “ Nobody can have any objection to Advani ji ’s candidature. He is a senior and respected leader,” SAD leader Naresh Gujral said. However, the SAD’s support for Advani doesn’t necessarily mean an about- turn. The party has consistently maintained that it would accept any candidate projected by the BJP. Sena support Sources in the Shiv Sena said the party is lukewarm towards both Modi and Advani, but it would not oppose either of them.
In Modi’s case, his proximity to MNS chief Raj Thackeray is a red rag for the Sena. “ We contested under Advani in 2009 so we are not opposed to him. But the NDA’s performance was below par. Hence a change in leadership would be desirable,” a Sena leader said.
By Rajnath Singh’s own admission, Modi is the most popular leader in the party. Another big drawback for Advani is the RSS’s likely veto of his candidature. The RSS and Advani have been engaged in a tug- of- war for the past few years.
The ‘ Advani versus Modi’ debate is a tussle between two competing visions of what the BJP’s path towards power should be.
The formula being put forward by Advani and his supporters like Sushma Swaraj is ‘ NDA plus’. As laid down by Advani during the BJP conclaves in Delhi in March this year and in Surajkund last year, ‘ NDA plus’ involves the effort to transform the NDA into a “ larger and more robust alliance” by “ re- projecting the party’s commitment to secularism”. Advani has also hailed the Goa experiment in which the party won the support of minorities and suggested that the party must prepare separate charters for minorities and Dalits.
Politics has come a full circle for Advani. On the eve of the 1996 elections, Advani was the most popular leader in the BJP by virtue of being the architect of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
Yet, he was forced to step aside in favour of the more acceptable Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
A lot depends on the stand BJP president Rajnath Singh takes in the months to come. Even though he has been cosying up to Modi, Singh remains non- committal on his PM candidature.
Many in the BJP believe that Singh wouldn’t mind if the phase of uncertainty and confusion continues, as it would keep open the possibility of his own emergence as a consensus candidate on the eve of the elections or after them.
Who knows that amidst the ‘ Advani versus Modi’ tussle, the dark horse president could emerge as a dark horse prime minister.
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