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Opinion
Will Politician in Advani Make Way for Leader
in Him?
by Pramod Khilery
 For a party whose ideology could have
never struck a chord with the soul and idea of India, to have grown into
a formidable opposition and then cruised into power as the chief
constituent of NDA (National Democratic Alliance) BJP had done
remarkably well. The architect of this miracle was L K Advani. Vajpayee,
the then prime minister and earlier leader of opposition has had the
charisma but Advani had the math. He was not what he pretended to be but
he knew what he needed to be perceived as his concocted image and he
sculpted it accordingly with impeccable dexterity. But his image served
his party more than himself. As the party grew and Vajpayee drew benefit
off a liberal image only he could have afforded Advani had begun to
measure the heights or depths of sacrifices he had made for party and
his own climb. Unfortunately climb was never absolute. It had to stop
after certain ascend and it did.
The valiant soldier of party fell victim to its success. Vajpayee on the
other hand relished the endearing persona and prime ministership (first
proposed by Advani) that came with it. When Advani was striving hard to
become indispensable for his party Vajpayee was conceiving a deportment
to be acceptable across India. Both succeeded. But while acceptability
came with its rewards, indispensability brought with it an expiry date.
Advani, the shrewd politician and an overwhelming human being was now a
hardliner. Hindutva, the crutch of core values he chiseled for BJP’s
rise and his ascend began to prick in the armpits.
And then begins the frustrated efforts to break free of the crutches and
walk free quite like Vajpayee. That was never to be. He proclaimed
Jinnah to be a secular messiah in Pakistan and hoped to cultivate a
ground for him among India’s Muslims. But for us the events that
unfolded brought on what Advani ought to have tried hard from being
divulged. The man who had engineered the era of formidable opposition in
Indian democracy was made to lick what he had spat by the bosses sitting
on the fence. He turned out to be a sheepish pushover as if leaving
Advani, the leader, behind in Pakistan. On that day he had lost a
battle in full view of Indian republic. No longer was he Advani who had
immediately offered to quit in Jain-hawala charges till exoneration.
The image loving Advani tried creating many. He began with Sardar Patel
and ended up with being Jinnaized. The self proclaimed iron man image
borrowed from Patel only proved disastrous. The layers of images had him
crushed in between the illusions. Different versions of images for
different audiences: party, minority, RSS, corporate and nation.
Jinnah had running through him a Manichean personality. Both were miles
apart from each other. Political compulsions arisen out of personal
ambitions and turn of events led him to his final entitling. Advani too
tread the same course. Today he is carrying the burden of so many deeds
he knew were everything but compatible to his character. His assessment
is not wrong. His back is burdened and bent but he feigns health. His
deeds brought him to power. A myopic vision cleared the path for him and
then ditched. Jinnah for all the re-readings he is enjoying still
retains the disposition that throws him to us as conceiver of two nation
theory along religious lines. Advani too Jinnahized his laconic
comportment when he set out to his infamous Rathyatra to contribute his
bit in polarizing the nation along religious lines and presiding over an
ignominious act. RSS or Sangh as he calls it may have been propagating a
theory to establish Hindu India for long but it was Advani who gave it
the direction and recognition in India’s middle class. And hence the
formidable presence in parliament. Thanks to him a significant chunk of
India’s NRI’s were more interested in constructing temples than schools
in the nation of their origin. The dust raised by Rathyatra is settling
now to the ground. Slogans are no longer to be heard. New voters prefer
it that way. Settled dust, paved roads.
Today he is not man of moment but the hub of lament. A political career
that parallels Independent India which had begun from the deserts of
Rajasthan now risks playing its denouement with a spat with a
Rajasthani. An octogenarian living his beginning once more. The
longevity of any career derives much of its strength from key moments
and in politics more so. If these moments are handled well memory and
history take care of rest or the baggage grows exponentially. Vajpayee
had his share of weak moments. He didn’t out rightly seize them but he
did not let them become his albatross. Is it not ironic that today
Kandhar is a failing ascribed to Advani only not Vajpayee too. In his
memoirs My Country My Life Advani writes that he was initially against
the release. But later states that “the government most reluctantly took
the option to minimize the losses.” In all his interviews he had often
denied having any knowledge of Jaswant Singh going to Kandhar to swap
militants with hostages. Prevarication at best. Now ballistic Jaswant
and cash-for-votes controversy revisit him to his utter embarrassment.
Ghosts are far too many to be exorcized.
The ghosts that have him rendered noncurrent to his party are of his own
making. The Kanadhar fiasco which is embarrassing him to the extent of
being termed mendacious is the outcome of having morals shaken at the
first fear of possible cracks in the image he thought he wore. Jinnah
controversy could easily have been handled if it were not for his
spinelessness and election defeat could have been used for even
enhancing his persona by retreating back and letting the shadow talk
further. Sometimes shadow proves to be more powerful because people can
osmosis into it without bruising it.
The author Malcolm Gladwell describes in his book “Blink” a
concept which he calls "thin-slicing" i.e. our ability to gauge what is
really important from a very narrow period of experience. In other
words, spontaneous decisions are often as good as—or even better
than—carefully planned and considered ones. Gladwell also mentions that
sometimes having too much information can interfere with the accuracy of
a judgment. This he calls "Analysis paralysis.” Advani had his
“thin-slicing” moment but he let go of it.
Once gain he is being castigated for being a devoted soldier of the
party. What made him stay we had better not speculate in reverence to
the old man but one glance at BJP sans his presence and gloom drips. My
hunch is perhaps in this castigation of Advani lies the hope for BJP.
Now that he has put himself to pasture let’s talk future.
Sangh is believed to be preparing for his grand superannuation. He has
choices. He can shut himself up once and for all or he can establish a
communion with public. He will be listened to. If he is old then he also
has age on his side. Advani has a past, a chequered one. A past where
most often the politician in him bruised and sometimes even killed the
leader in him. Strange as it may seem but still he is not all past. He
still has it in him to birth impressions of future. He wanted to be a
prime minister. He couldn’t. Politicians are always recognized by the
posts they hold. Leaders are not. If his last shot was at the top job
then he will be remembered as politician. If he can transcend the range
of his effort and straighten the burdened back he will go down in
history as leader. Will he make it?
September 19, 2009
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