Sharp curves ahead

On Tuesday, L.K. Advani begins the second phase of his Bharat Uday Yatra. The symbolism of Porbander — the birthplace of the father of the nation —is pitted rather incongruously with the politics of Advani’s travelling companions in this phase of the journey, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi et al. From all indications, the Muslim leaders and Christian priests who had so conspicuously presided over the commencement of this yatra from Kanyakumari early this month, will be nowhere in sight in this neck of the woods. As one BJP leader explained to an Express correspondent, “there was no place in the rath” for them. An understandable dilemma given limited physical and political space, of course, but somehow indicative of the schizophrenia that has come to mark this exercise.

While L.K. Advani himself has confined his speeches largely to the NDA government’s developmental goals and achievements, laced with some well aimed barbs at the Congress, he has never failed to return to the familiar theme of building the Ayodhya temple. Interestingly, his yatra has been read in various ways. It sometimes appears to represent the new, accommodative BJP, happy to play second fiddle to its coalitional partners in states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and sometimes, while traversing through the parched lands of northern Karnataka — a state that appears ripe for the picking — it represents the promise of su-raj, good governance. At other times, it is read as the icon of hardline Hindutva. The Bajrang Dal activists who tried to confront Advani in Madhya Pradesh over the lack of action on Ayodhya certainly saw it that way. Advani responded by admonishing them and stating that India belonged not just to Hindus but to all religious communities who lived on its soil. He also let it be known in his briefings to media personnel along the way that he himself was no Hindutva hawk and that it was the media that had painted him so. Clearly, he finds this characterisation burdensome. He wishes to be perceived in a more nuanced fashion.

As he sets off today for his 16-day journey, from Porbander to the Jagannath temple at Puri, after making a detour to revisit Ayodhya, which he has characterised as “unforgettable”, there will be several occasions when it may appear tempting and political expedient for him to succumb to the frenzy of the trident bearer and the saffron bandana wearer, as happened all those many years ago on another famous rath yatra. He will be watched very carefully as he negotiates the sharp curves ahead and heard with great attention, too.