‘25 yrs of learning, especially this year’

As though writing his own political obituary, Advani—who is expected to formally announce his successor on December 31—listed the ‘‘12 defining years’’ in his political life of more than half a century—and counted 2005 as one of them. And without mentioning the fact that the highlight of 2005 was his remarks on Jinnah and his clash with the RSS that has forced his untimely exit from the top post, Advani made it clear that he remained unrepentant about his Pakistan yatra.

The highlights of 2005, he said, were his ‘‘his six-day visit to Pakistan; during which I am asked to inaugurate a project for the restoration of Katasraj temples of the Mahabharat era’’, and the NDA victory in Bihar which was ‘‘as significant as the Lok Sabha election of 1977.’’

But if restoring temples in Pakistan remains a high point of his political life, the demolition of Babri Masjid in India clearly is not. For while 1990 figures in the list of defining years (thanks to his Ram rath yatra), there is no mention of 1992 at all. The other major years include 1951 (formation of Jana Sangh), 1975 (Emergency), 1977 (Janata victory), 1980 (formation of BJP ‘‘after we esrtwhile members of the Jana Sangh are forced to quit the Janata Party because of our association with the RSS’’), 1984 (BJP debacles), 1996 (BJP becomes the single largest party in the Lok Sabha), 1998 (the Vajpayee government formation) and 2004 (NDA faces ‘‘unexpected defeat.’’) But 2005 was clearly the most important year. Declaring that ‘‘ultimately, what matters more than the journey itself is what one had learnt from that journey,’’ Advani said, ‘‘I have no doubt—and I am sure none of you have any doubt—that we have collectively learnt an immense lot from our journey during these 25 years. For me too it has been a period of great learning, more particularly the year just about to end.’’ His speeches today, however, failed to throw light on what exactly he had learnt from the bitter experiences of this year. For instance, at a book release function earlier in the day where RSS leader Madan Dass Devi made it clear that the BJP would grow only if it concentrated on ideology, organisation, and dedication, Advani sounded almost conciliatory to the RSS.

Recalling the formation of the BJP 25 years ago, he said unlike the Jana Sangh, the BJP’s very birth came about because of its links with the RSS. The Jana Sangh was not a creature of the RSS but the BJP —which broke away from the Janata Party on the ‘dual membership’’ issue— was much more inextricably linked to the Sangh Parivar. If Advani seemed to be going back to the ‘‘umbilical’’ ties thesis (after consciously coining the more equitable term ‘‘symbiotic’’ to describe RSS-BJP relations in his landmark speech at the BJP national executive in Chennai three months ago), he was not quite as forthcoming in his formal remarks at the National Exeuctive. Not only did he make it a point to highlight his Pakistan visit despite the ire it caused the RSS, the erstwhile Hindutva ‘‘ideologue’’ of the BJP made no mention of the word ideology in his speech. The reasons for BJP’s success over the past 25 years, he said, were ‘‘because of our dedication, discipline, commitment and hard work. Because of our determination. Because of our unwavering desire for making India a Great Nation.’’ But the ‘ideology and organisation’—RSS prescriptive buzzwords for the BJP—were conspicuous by their absence. There was no mention of the corruption issue haunting the BJP at his juncture. Briefing the press later, BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan said there was ‘‘no reference at all’’ to the scandal and neither was it on the agenda of the upcoming national council meeting. Though it is not on the official agenda, a section of senior BJP leaders —with the blessings Murli Manohar Joshi—has started a campaign against the ‘‘ham-handed manner’’ in which L K Advani handled the issue in Lok Sabha (LS) on the last day of the Winter Session, sources said. By describing the on-camera corruption indulged in by MPs as ‘‘stupidity’’ and not backing the resolution to expel them, Advani had caused incalculable damage to the BJP’s already tattered image of being ‘‘a party with a difference,’’ his detractors feel.

The BJP’s stance on the issue in LS, they insist, was only part of the series of glaring errors—and showed that Advani was losing his acumen even as Opposition leader. The BJP’s decision to boycott Parliament during the Budget Session, its ‘neither here nor there’’ stand on the quotas in private educational institutions and its decision to back the corrupt MPs are being mentioned by those who want Advani out. Curiously, even Advani’s supporters are not defending his recent actions as leader of the opposition. Ruling out the possibility of any change in the near future, a national executive member said, ‘‘We do not have any senior leader who can be an alternative to Advaniji in LS. V.K. Malhotra does not have the stature and with Rajnath Singh becoming party chief, we cannot have another UP leader—Kalyan Singh—as Leader of Opposition.’’ Advani, he hinted, would continue because of the TINA factor and not because he was ideally suited for the job.