Goofy garu

It is not an apocryphal story but one many have heard the garrulous BJP president, Mopuvarappu Venkaiah Naidu, himself moan about. As per Na...

It is not an apocryphal story but one many have heard the garrulous BJP president, Mopuvarappu Venkaiah Naidu, himself moan about. As per Naidu8217;s sorry tale, both he and the Laloo Prasad Yadav began as student leaders around the same, plunging into politics as, initially, JP8217;s footsoldiers. But, as Naidu would wail, 8216;8216;Look where Laloo is, and where am I today?8217;8217;

That was in the early 1990s, when Naidu, now 54, was handpicked by L.K. Advani and thrust into national politics from his native Andhra Pradesh. Laloo was already chief minister of Bihar, Naidu was still finding his feet in the state and in national politics. Then, as now, Naidu lived by his tongue. It has not proved detrimental. For he is boldfaced, impudent, even audacious, and has brazened out every crisis, even a land grab scandal that he says he was unfairly accused of.

It has been quite a rise for this ABVP leader even though he did not come from the ranks of the parivar8217;s fountainhead8212;the RSS. Naidu8217;s loyalty to his leader Advani is almost unconditional, after all, he was handpicked for party presidency in July 2002 to rejuvenate the organisation. The loud, babbling Naidu came like a squall after a laidback pensioners like Kushabhau Thakre and Jana Krishnamurthi or the scandal-tainted Bangaru Laxman, a fellow Telugu.

In fact, so stung had been Naidu at Laxman becoming president, he had given give up party work, he was then national general-secretary, to join the government. As rural development minister, his tenure was rather lacklustre but as party president Naidu seems to have been at the right time, at the right place. Backed by the RSS, the party swung to at least partially restore authority it had lost to the Prime Minister8217;s Office. It was jolted out of its melancholia when it won Gujarat in December 2002. After a long time, the BJP was warmed by the reassuring mantra of Hindutva and divisive politics. So, it is not surprising party president Naidu is given to bouts of resurgent saffron when he unabashedly promotes its most potent ideologue Advani, to the consternation of the other power centre, so-called moderate Atal Behari Vajpayee.

As the party has been galvanised in recent months, Naidu has been a gainer. Prior to the recent cabinet reshuffle, he8212;alongside, of course, Vajpayee and Advani8212;was deciding everything, how much Mamata Banerjee would be placated, whether 8216;8216;overburdened8217;8217; BJP ministers would lose a portfolio. Naidu was on top. There was no way to go but down.

First at a public rally in Rampur, he suggested the Babri masjid be rebuilt right next to a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. When his VHP friends growled back, Naidu, as usual, blamed the media. Next8212;with the instincts of a man trying to please all the people all the time8212;Naidu said the BJP8217;s Lok Sabha 2004 campaign would focus equally on Vajpayee and Advani, Vikas Purush and Loh Purush.

The prime minister wasn8217;t amused and it was a frantic Naidu who rushed to swear loyalty to the 8216;8216;only one leader in the party8217;8217;, Vajpayee. For the moment, Mr Silver Tongue has discovered that silence is golden.