The BJP patriarch lK Advani on Sunday said that his political journey that started 55 years ago “first as worker of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh” and later of the BJP, “has yet not ended”.Writing in his latest blog, Advani, 86, recalled his long association with RSS, which he joined as a 14-and-a-half-year-old in Karachi, and said, “It has given meaning to my life.”
“When I look back at my life of over eight decades, I remind myself that I found my calling in life when, on a tennis court in Hyderabad (Sindh), I first heard the name of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and became a swayamsevak in 1942,” he said and went on saying that his journey had later experienced lasting association with the BJS and the BJP and “that has not yet ended”.
“…That meaning got further enriched when I embarked on a political journey 55 years ago, first as a worker of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and later of the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is a journey that has not yet ended,” said Advani in his blog where he mentioned his interaction with veteran journalist Khuswant Singh after the demotion of Babri mosque.
The comment is being interpreted as a subtle suggestion that he may take yet another shot at the lok Sabha poll by contesting elections.
In his titled “How association with RSS has given meaning to my life”, Advani recalled his recent visit to Khushwant Singh, who entered his centenary year on February 2, and lauded him for being a prolific and active writer despite his advanced age.
“I have not read any other author who could write as well, and with such lucidity, at such an advanced age,” he said. In his blog Advani recollected Singh’s dislike for him after the demolition of Babri mosque.
The veteran BJP leader said when he called on Singh in February, 2013, he wrote about me in the H.T. dated March 17: “After he (Advani) led his Rath Yatra from Somnath Temple to Ayodha and watched the Babri Masjid being pulled down I have been one of his severest critics. I used harsh words for him on his face at a public meeting he was to address.”
Advani said about his visit to Singh’s residence residence, he wrote: “I had reason to fear that he wanted to tick me off and tell me to go to hell… Instead of ticking me off, as I expected, he brought a bouquet of roses for me and my daughter. I had to concede he was better Sikh than I am. He is an Amil Sindhi, a community that subscribes to Sikh tenets. We spent an hour talking about different things but did not refer to his rath yatra and the destruction of Babri Masjid. It was entirely a courtesy call to reaffirm that despite differences we were on amicable talking terms. He is a bigger man that I thought he was,” Advani quoted Singh as saying.