What, me retire?

It suits the coterie around the BJP president 8212; and make no mistake, that coterie exists 8212; to give the impression of shock and horror. There are insinuations that Sudarshan is a loose cannon and an 8220;ideological hardliner8221; 8212; whatever that means. Subtly, the focus is being shifted to the admittedly churlish personal allegations, away from the more substantive business 8212; the BJP8217;s ivory tower gerontocracy.

It is a myth, assiduously promoted by certain functionaries in 7 Ashoka Road, that the BJP has to choose between the Sangh and the NDA. This is not a black-or-white affair; the competitive if not always conflicting pulls of the two can be rationalised with deft political management.

The BJP needs the NDA to come back to power; it cannot win a majority on its own. Yet the BJP needs the RSS/Sangh to win enough seats to control the NDA; it needs to be mindful of its own voter.

This reconciliation is what coalition building is all about. In government, senior BJP leaders didn8217;t bother with it. What has their record been in opposition?

Every other day, Advani gives an interview. He talks of Ram to one news channel, NDA-necessitated compromises to the next, being 8220;unapologetic8221; about ideology to the third. He confuses people, not the least his own supporters, whom he seems to address only through the media.

Advani lives in the past tense, harping on endlessly about the glorious 1990s. He offers no road map for the coming decade. He shies away from building a framework that will dovetail the BJP8217;s RSS affiliation with its NDA affinity. As the party8217;s unquestioned strategist, isn8217;t it incumbent upon him to attempt this?

In the early months after losing office, the BJP8217;s thrust was on preventing the RSS from experimenting with another, 8220;Hindu8221; party 8212; as the VHP had been advocating. Once that was achieved, it was back to gimmickry and denial mode. Yet again, the Sangh family was being told, 8220;Put up or shut up.8221; Advani8217;s team is putting off people without even realising it is.

Take the RSS-organised brainstorming session in Bhopal in March. The BJP chief couldn8217;t make it, so the opening paper was presented by a senior aide to be fair, he said his views were 8220;personal8221;. In front of Sudarshan and Mohanrao Bhagwat, he lectured the RSS, virtually called the Hindu vote a myth and said chasing it was 8220;undemocratic8221;.

He sought special steps to reach out to Muslims, insisted 8212; as many in the BJP now do 8212; that a Ram temple was only months away when the NDA lost power. He concluded with a denunciation of economic reforms. Later he launched a passionate defence of Jawaharlal Nehru. He could have been writing a speech for Prakash Karat.

The next day, a former BJP president spoke. He said he couldn8217;t understand what the fuss was about and why the people of India had voted out the BJP. He resorted to a pauseless election speech in front of committed saffronites who only wanted to be heard!

This is politics as top-down approach: feedback is strictly not welcome. When Advani took charge as president, his was supposed to be a holding operation. Too many people are comfortable with the status quo and hint at him leading the party in the next election, especially if the Congress calls it before time.

It was this reverie that Sudarshan sought to puncture. It was the singularly puerile snub the BJP representatives delivered in Bhopal that he was hitting back at. The RSS may have retreated tactically from the manner of his remarks, but it is not disagreeing with Sudarshan8217;s broader point.

The men who run 7 Ashoka Road, of course, wish to see it differently. For the past two years, about every six months 8212; sometimes every three months 8212; Vajpayee has threatened to resign, give up politics, retire. Each time, though with decreasing energy levels, he has been persuaded to change his mind. The media has been blamed for 8220;misquoting8221; him.

Now it8217;s Advani8217;s turn. Apparently, he wanted to resign when the first excerpts from Sudarshan8217;s interview were released. Apparently, he may still want to resign after the full interview is telecast this weekend.

Maybe Mr Advani should walk the talk.