JUNE 12- Barely 36 hours after he resigned from all posts he occupied in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Lal Krishna Advani has snatched a tactical victory from the jaws of retirement.
The biggest crisis in the BJP’s history may have appeared to be no more than an extended sulk, but Advani stayed on top of the twists and turns of the resolution process to wring out important concessions from the party’s parent organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), on the way the party is run.
The interface between the BJP and RSS came out from behind the shadows as the crisis was resolved.
Advani has clipped the wings of the triumvirate that comprises BJP president Rajnath Singh, RSS pointperson in the BJP Suresh Soni, and BJP general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal. In the process Advani has refurbished somewhat his ties with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and his protege Nitin Gadkari, creating a counterbalancing axis of his own that also includes RSS general secretary Bhaiyaji Joshi.
Advani’s greatest success-and the condition on which his return was predicated-was to make Gadkari and Bhaiyaji agree that they would keep him abreast of all decision making, a gamechanger that was then communicated to Rajnath. RSS chief Bhagwat, whose advice in late 2011 to Advani on making way for younger blood hasn’t stopped resonating in the party, was also brought on board the new saffron order of things by Gadkari on Tuesday.
Advani also managed to restrict the influence of Narendra Modi, following his recent appointment as campaign committee chief, by reiterating the importance of the central election committee.
Mollified
In an attempt to mollify the sulking patriarch, BJP president Rajnath Singh said: “Whenever he (Advani) raises any concerns related to the party, I will personally address them.”
Singh did deliver a subtle message to Advani, saying that he “had decided to abide by the decision of the parliamentary board (to take back his resignation)”.
By extension, it meant that Advani will have to accept the party’s decision to elevate Modi as the chairman of the election campaign committee.
Even though Singh and the RSS spared no effort in imploring Advani to take back his resignation, they made it clear that the decision to appoint Modi as the campaign in-charge was irreversible.
