Advani’s absence from Modi’s coronation ceremony has been interpreted variously. But none of it takes away from the fact that the patriarch’s guidance and appeal remains indispensable to his party
The reason for Mr lK Advani not attending the meeting of the BJP’s Parliamentary Board before which there was only one and the most important agenda — declare Mr Narendra Modi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the election to the lok Sabha scheduled to be held in the first quarter of 2014 — has caused consternation among myriads of party cadres, his admirers as well as well-wishers of the party. But this does not mean or must be understood to mean that Mr Advani’s high position and status in the party as well as the respect and regard he enjoys and commands in the party or his blessings to Mr Modi have in any way been impaired or adversely affected. This is because the bond between Mr Advani, the Sangh and the BJP is unbreakable.
Mr Advani became a swayamsevak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1942 in Karachi when he was 15 years old. About the same time, I also became a swayamsevak in Shimoga, Karnataka. The basic bond between Mr Advani as a swayamsevak, the Sangh and the BJP is unbreakable because, according to Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the founder of the RSS, once a person becomes a swayamsevak, he is always a swayamsevak. It has no comparison with a person becoming a member of any political organisation and then giving it up.
Mr Advani has devoted every ounce of his energy and every moment of his life to the selfless service of the organisation and the nation. Indisputably, on account of his mind and intellect, he is a shining star in the political horizon of Bharat. He reached the penultimate position of power as the Deputy Prime Minister of India between 2002 and 2004.
I have highlighted his outstanding public life in my article in the special issue of Swadesh published to commemorate four decades of dedicated service to the nation by Mr Advani. In the concluding part of the article, I stated: “Finally, all that could be said is that it is the misfortune of the nation that an outstanding and able leader like lK Advani could not become the Prime Minister of this country at a time when the nation is facing very serious problem concerning the security of the nation, just as Sardar Patel did not become the Prime Minister.”
My intimate contact with Mr Advani commenced when I filed his habeas corpus writ petition, along with those of Atal Behari Vajpayee, Madhu Dandavate and Shyamnandan Mishra in the Karnataka High Court when patriots of such high order were arrested as a ‘threat to internal security’ by the Indira Gandhi Government on June 26, 1975. On account of this fearless discharge of professional obligation, I was detained in Central Jail, Bangalore, along with Mr Advani, for more than one year. Since then, I have been in close contact with him for nearly four decades and become his great admirer.
In 2002, Mr Modi was attacked from all sides as if he was responsible for the violence in Gujarat, though he was not — those who engineered the burning alive of 60 Ram bhakts at Godhra gave grave provocation. In view of such a wide propaganda against Mr Modi, then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee felt that the Chief Minister should resign. But Mr Advani along with KS Sudarshan, then the sarsanghchalak of the RSS, stood firmly in support of Mr Modi and opposed the demand for his resignation, because the latter was not at fault.
Today, there is overwhelming support for Mr Modi among the swayamsevaks, the BJP cadre and also generally among the people. Yet, why Mr Advani avoided the Parliamentary Board meeting and did not join the chorus for the announcement of Mr Modi as the BJP’s 2014 prime ministerial candidate, is inexplicable.
But the fact remains that Mr Advani enjoys the highest position in the organisational hierarchy, and that position remains intact even now. The bond between him, the Sangh and the BJP is organic and divine and, therefore, inseparable. His guidance and appeal is indispensable for the BJP, both in the election to the four State Assemblies slated this year and in the lok Sabha poll in 2014.
The bruise caused by his absence at the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting at which Mr Modi was anointed as the party’s prime ministerial candidate, will heal quickly. Mr Advani’s leadership will be available to the BJP in a more resplendent manner.
(The writer is a BJP member of the Rajya Sabha and a former Governor of Bihar and Jharkhand)