On coronation of Advani as PM candidate

Editor’s note, Ahmedabad, 13 September 2013

So if Modi’s announcement as PM candidate is too early for year 2014 general elections, what was the timing of announcement of Advani as PM candidate for year 2009 general elections?

Advani was declared BJP’s PM candidate in December 2007, nearly 16 months before the general elections of Lok Sabha. Advani’s name was announced on the eve of first phase of Gujarat assembly polls. It was 11 December, 2007 when Advani was declared as BJP’s PM candidate.

Nowadays, the title of ‘party patriarch’ is frequently used by media for Mr.Advani. In year 2007 when Advani was selected as party’s PM candidate, the same title was used for Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Shri Advani’s name emerged naturally for PM candidature due to Vajpayee’s ill health.

India Today magazine in its story in December 2007 narrated the sequence of Advani’s coronation as PM candidate: On December 8, Advani drove to Vajpayee’s residence along with RSS joint general secretary Suresh Soni. They were joined by Rajnath and the blueprint of the succession drafted. Advani had been keen that Vajpayee make the announcement but the latter’s health did not permit this. This was one reason for the delay. Moreover, Vajpayee pointed out that theirs was not a feudal party whereby he should announce his successor. It was suggested that the party chief should make the announcement. Rajnath was hesitant. Perhaps he felt it woud be a bit presumptuous on his part. In 1995 when Advani had announced Vajpayee’s name as the party’s prime ministerial candidate, he was BJP president. But while Advani was Vajpayee’s peer, Rajnath is much junior to Advani in party seniority. Vajpayee then suggested that Rajnath find an appropriate mechanism to make the announcement. Finally it was decided that Vajpayee’s message endorsing Advani would be taken to the parliamentary board meeting which would take the decision. Two days later the members of the parliamentary board were called for an almost impromptu meeting—Jaswant Singh and Sushma Swaraj who were out of town, had to rush back. Although Swaraj missed the meeting she dropped in at Advani’s house later with flowers and support. Advani was formally informed of the decision only when he asked why the meeting had been called.

“I met Vajpayeeji and he said that since his health prevented him from playing an active role in the party, it is better if we nominate Advani,” said party president Rajnath Singh at that time.

Shri Vajpayee had written a letter and said that Mr. Advani will lead the party in the forthcoming elections. The letter was read out by then party president Rajnath Singh.

After his coronation, Advani in his reaction had siad, “I thank Mr Vajpayee, and I pray to God to give me strength so I live up to his expectations.”

Now when Modi has been made party’s PM candidate, there’s a talk about Advani’s letter to Rajnath. It is not a letter of blessings, well wishes and approval, but a letter of protest. In five years, PM candidates have changed, so as patriachs and their role.

It is interesting to note that so far as BJP was concerned, only name other than Advani in discussion for the post of PM in 2007 was Narendra Modi. Even prime minister Manmohan Singh pitched in and mocked the BJP saying, “Fearing danger from Modi, BJP has crowned Advani.”

In 2008 when asked Radhika Ramaseshan for her article in Telegraph asked Sushma Swaraj that after Advani, who, Sushma replied: “Atalji and Advaniji are natural grown leaders,” says former minister and Rajya Sabha MP Sushma Swaraj. “It’s preposterous to ask who after Advani because according to our Hindu tehzeeb (tradition), as long as our elders are around it is sacrilege to think of their successor.”

She further said, “Advaniji was always clear that as long as Atalji is there, he is the undisputed neta and nobody else will claim the PM’s post.”

In April 2009, just ahead of the Lok Sabha general elections, the BJP had organized Shri Arun Shouri’s interaction with media in Ahmedabad’s Inder Residency hotel( the author was there at that time). Shri Shourie had clearly said that there was a chance for Gujarat to elect someone from Gujarat as Prime Minister this time(2009) and next time(2014). He clearly named Narendra Modi as party’s PM candidate in year 2014. The video is presented below:

Advani’s PM story takes us to 1995 when his name was figured in Jain diaries. He declared that he would contest elections only after clean chit in Jain hawala case. Thus he lost the biggest opportunity to become party’s PM candidate. It has to be mentioned that not Vajpayee, but Advani was natural choice as party’s PM candidate at that time. Advani declared that Vajpayee will lead BJP in 1996 elections.

Later former Advani loyalist KN Govindacharya however enriched the political lexicon by claiming Vajpayee would be the “mukhota(mask)” and Advani the ‘power behind the throne.’ Vajpayee had the wordsmith thrown out of the BJP.

In 1998, Advani dismissed suggestions he wanted to be deputy PM. Vajpayee had knee surgeries in 2000 and 2001, but government work was going on auto-pilot. Power was not delegated to Advani.

Gujarat riots and Agra summit fiasco made Vajpayee vulnerable to RSS pressure. In June 2002, Vajpayee redesignated Advani as deputy PM. Reports said Advani acolye Venkaiah Naidu suggested to Vajpayee he should contest the presidential election in July 2002 and opt out of prime ministership. Venkaiah was there again in June 2003 and declared that the BJP will be led by two mascots in the 2004 elections. Loh purush(iron man) Advani and Vikas purush(development man) Vajpayee. Vajpayee reacted by proclaiming he was ‘neither tired nor retired.’

In December 2006, Advani declared himself PM candidate in a TV interview. ‘According to the British tradition, the leader of the opposition is supported to be the PM-in-waiting,’ he said.

Due to ill health of Mr. Vajpayee, Shri Advani was selected as BJP’s PM candidate in December 2007.

In last decade, Modi has emerged as third PM candidate of BJP after Atalji and Advani. This is personally a big achievement for Mr. Modi.

The problem of Shri Advani is that he is no more a mass leader. Once he was.

If we recall Shri Advaniji’s past, he was a natural candidate in Delhi, but after Rajesh Khanna contested against him, Advani rushed to Gandhinagar to contest the Lok Sabha poll. Then he never left this seat. People of Gandhinagar are kind enough to elect Mr. Advani repeatedly, but Mr. Advani has not been equally kind. He is elected for five years, but if you make total of the days he visits Gandhinagar, it would be hardly 15 or 20 days. Advani is considered outsider candidate here in Gujarat. But there’s no vocal complain about it because people respect Advani for whatever he did for the nation, for the cause of Hindus and for the BJP in late 1980s and early 1990s. But those youths who have not seen early 1990s fail to recognize Advani, and that number is huge and vocal. For them, another and newer mass leader of BJP – Narendra Modi is their hero.

BJP is traditionally respected as a cadre based party. In mid 1990s when cadre wanted Advani as PM candidate, he was taking break from electoral politics for a while on ethical ground in connection with the Jain hawala case. This made a way for Vajpayee era. After more than ten years in 2009 when Advani became PM candidate due to ill health of Vajpayee, his charm and magic had gone, largely due to lack of any more Ram janmabhoomi and due to his inability to properly clarify the Jinnah chapter.

Today the cadre wants Modi as leader, and BJP has rightly echoed the voice of cadre by selecting Modi as PM candidate. After all it’s a cadre based party. The cadre sees their reflection in Modi. Leader and cadre both are in excellent sync in this case, and that’s one of the recipes of winning the elections, and wars, whatever year 2014 poll battle you may define as.