The journey man

Its clearly not the end of the road yet for L.K. Advani. The octogenarian BJP leader startled his own party with his performance in Parliament and his announcement of a rath yatra against corruption. Too bad that both rath yatra and corruption are words that the BJP does not want brought up at this point. Of course,the rath yatra is Advanis own medium he perfected the long agitational march in his famous Ram Janmabhoomi yatra to Ayodhya,in a decked-up Toyota chariot his movement literally gathered strength as he travelled,mobilising the cadre,with the medias attentive gaze following him all the way. That yatra undeniably provided the ballast for the BJP becoming a mainstream national force. However,his later attempts to stir and repeat that success have not worked the most notable disappointment being the Bharat Suraksha Yatra in 2006.

While it may suit Advani to warm over his own tactics,does the party need this new embarrassment? The rath yatra brings up images it should be trying to bury,memories of a destructive politics it must leave behind as it tries to remain relevant to a new generation. It is also a message to the partys current leaders that Advani will lead the change,and be the partys contender for the prime ministers job. BJP president Nitin Gadkari has stressed that the prime-ministerial question is still open,and will be a collective decision,but Advani is clearly undeterred.

And if reminding the nation of the rath yatra is an unwise move,a march against corruption is even more absurd for a party that is barely keeping it together in Karnataka,and whose own record in government was riddled with corruption scandals. The BJP should know better than to try and coast on a wave of public resentment that is bound to engulf the party along with the others.