Rajnath likely to skip Advani rally

When BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani addresses a rally in Kanpur on June 27, party president Rajnath Singh...

When BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani addresses a rally in Kanpur on June 27, party president Rajnath Singh is not likely to be there by his side. The Kanpur rally is important, as it will mark the resumption of the Samkalp Yatra, touted as the BJP’s pre-election campaign.

Asked if he would accompany Advani to Kanpur, Rajnath Singh told The Indian Express: “It’s not necessary that we go everywhere together. We are organising rallies in various parts of the country. It’ll be a runaway success.” Uttar Pradesh BJP president Ramapati Tripathi too said he was not sure if the national president would be present. Meanwhile, there have been reports of divisions amongst local party workers engaged in preparations for the rally.

But on June 25, Sushma Swaraj, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and a host of other leaders would be present in Bhopal when Sri Sri Ravi Shankar releases the Hindi translation of Advani’s autobiography. “Sushma is a Rajya Sabha MP from the state,” explained a senior leader. He, however, refused to comment on Rajnath, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, giving the Kanpur rally a miss. Another leader elaborated: “Both leaders would be going to various parts of the country and they possibly couldn’t be seen together everywhere.”

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The last few weeks have seen two distinct streams of thought emerging within the BJP. While Advani, in his national executive address, called for expanding the National Democratic Alliance, apart from reaching out to the Muslims and Christians, and vigorously pursuing the good governance agenda, Rajnath harped on the abrogation of Article 370 and a “secularism that meant ‘panthnirpekshta’ (instead of ‘dharmanirpekshta’)”.

“While Advani is stepping into the shoes of Vajpayee, it’s only natural that Rajnath tries to be in the shoes of the Advani of 90s,” a Rajnath aide had told The Indian Express then.

In his speech at a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha meet in Jammu on Sunday, Rajnath repeated much the same. “We want Article 370 to be scrapped as it did not serve any purpose in the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir…. People need to do a soul-searching exercise over what they have got from Article 370,” he said.

The changing equations in the Sangh Parivar are also seen in instances like Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal embracing Advani at B S Yeddyurappa’s swearing-in ceremony in Bangalore. Suresh Soni, RSS pointman for BJP and chief backer of Rajnath in the Sangh, will be seen at the Bhopal function.

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Rajnath, however, believes that there have been occasions —“like his name not being mentioned among those to be thanked during Advani’s book release function in Delhi”— when “he has not got his due as party president”. He was also reported to be extremely upset when a top meeting at the party headquarters got over before he could even reach the office from the airport.