Thinking About Advaniji !!

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           JUNE 13 , 2013           01.15 A.M.

On June 10 , 2013 , while sitting in my institute’s office , I suddenly heard a TV anchor’s voice . He said , ” Lal Krishna Advani resigns from all the posts of Bharatiya Janata Party [ BJP ] .”

Shri Lal Krishna Advani outside his residence. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was shocked and dumbfounded . BJP without Advaniji or Advaniji without BJP is not comprehensible . I left every work and was glued to the TV set for a while . I watched the news for sometime and then started recollecting the incidents of past few days .

In BJP since almost 1 year there was a clamour for bigger role for Shri Narendra Modi . No sane person can find fault with this . But the picture was being painted as if Advaniji was against this . The fact of the matter is that Advaniji was solely responsible for Shri Narendra Modi’s elevation to the post of Chief Minister of Gujarat and he also saved Gujarat strongman from being sacked in the aftermath of Gujarat riots of 2002 . Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee wanted to remove him from the post . So how can he be against Shri Modi ?

Every BJP leader , who were assembled at Goa for the party’s National Executive Committee  meeting , took a decision to appoint Shri Narendra Modi as the Chairman of  The Campaign Committee for the 2014 Lok Sabha election . Since Advaniji didn’t attend the National Executive meet , he was painted as a villain , a greedy old man who was hankering for power and pelf. There was even a demonstration in front of his New Delhi house by some organization called Modi Sena .

I was pained by the sight . It was unbelievable and unthinkable few years back . No sane BJP worker will demonstrate against Advaniji . But some Modi Sena staged protest and instead of condemning it immediately and wholeheartedly , BJP leaders simply distanced themselves from it . That is all for this deplorable act .

Then , when asked about Advaniji’s health , BJP spokes-person Prakash Javdekar said in Goa , ” jab mausam badalta hai to log beemar pad jaate hain ” . I simply ask , is it fair ? ” …………….. mausam badalta hai ……………. ” indicates some connotation and it carries unambiguous meaning in the given present context . A Prakash Javdekar commenting like this and sarcastically taunting Advaniji , is deplorable . In my opinion it all started after the 2009 Lok Sabha defeat .

The then former Goa chief minister Shri Manohar Parrikar reportedly told a local news channel Prudent Media, “Pickle tastes good when it is left to mature for a year. But if you keep it for more than two years, it turns rancid…Advaniji’s period is more or less over. Another couple of years and after that he should act as a guardian or mentor for the party.  It’s like Sachin Tendulkar.  However mature an innings he may play, he will have to stop playing sometime.”

Parrikar said though he respected Advani for his integrity, the party should give importance to younger leaders. “I am not against elders, but the BJP should give prominence to leaders who are between 40 and 60 years.”

[ I have taken this above quoted piece from DNA of September 22 , 2009 . ]

Therefore there seems to be a conspiracy against Advaniji . I think that is the reason he took a painful decision of resigning from the Bharatiya Janata Party , which he nurtured whole of his life . He resigned on Monday , that is on June 10 , 2013 .

What followed afterwords is more sinful and shameful . Verbal abuse on twitter was unleashed . Obnoxious postings on facebook by some Rastra Dharma Rakshak and it’s patron Dhiraj Desmukh started with ferocity . This Rastra Dharma Rakshak supports Shri Narendra Modi and posts obscene comments about  Advaniji . Some comments are not even worthy of writing . Again a deafening silence by BJP on such posts is baffling .

A day after his resignation , when efforts were on to persuade Advaniji to take back his resignation , a certain  Prabhat Jha , the vice Prsident of BJP , said that one individual is not above the party . In fact this sermon is being dished out from several other sources also . Can I ask why the party was not above the individual when it got just 2 seats in 1984 ? From 2 seats in 1984 to a first BJP led government in 1998 , and to 182 seats in 1999 , Advaniji worked tirelessly . May I know why party was not above the individual in those momentous but dark and futureless 14 /15 years ?

He is accused to be driven by personal agenda . From 2 seats to 182 seats , from a party on the periphery , to the ruling party at the centre , he led BJP to unimaginable glories and when the clamour for him to become the Prime Minister was reaching a crescendo , he proposed Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s name . And the same person is now called by some minions and upstarts as driven by ambition and self – agenda .

Map of Indian Provinces as Ruled by Political Parties (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Even today BJP rules 4 provinces [ Gujarat , Madhya Pradesh , Chhattisgarh and Goa ] on its own and 3 provinces [ Punjab , Bihar and Nagaland ] as dominant coalition partner . But votaries of new order say that BJP lost 2004 and 2009 parliamentary elections and its seat tally came down . It won only 138 seats in 2004 and 116 seats in 2009 . But such people conveniently forget the gradual ascent of the BJP . 2 seats in 1984 , 89 seats in 1989 , 120 seats in 1991 , 161 seats in 1996 , 178 seats in 1998 , 182 seats in 1999 , 138 seats in 2004 and 116 seats in 2009 . Even if seat tally came down to 116 in 2009 , it was much better than 2 seats in 1984 .

But political calculations are driven by convenience . And the current convenience is winning parliamentary elections in 2014 . And some people feel that for this task you need Shri Narendra Modi’s face .

It is absolutely fine . Every one welcomed the decision . But to anoint a new leader , you need not ridicule and mock the aging patriarch . This is India and respecting elders is our tradition . That is precisely the reason that people cutting across part line are supporting Advaniji and showing sympathy. Not only Indian National Congress but even CPI and CPI-M showed empathy towards him . Urdu press , which is not favourably dispensed towards Advaniji , was sympathetic and supportive . They called this behaviour of sidelining him unfaithfulness and betrayal of an aging senior .

I am a non entity . But I was saddened by the turn of events . I am only trying to raise my voice against the ridicule , insult and mocking of Advaniji , who is now 85 . We should not left him in the cold . To play a Balraj Madhok on him is not possible in this age of social media and if some one , driven by personal agenda , is trying to do this , he should be condemned .

I am raising my voice fully knowing that I may be in minority . But  TRUTH ALWAYS WINS .

” SATYAMEVA JAYATE NANRITAM ”

I , along with my above mentioned institutions , wholeheartedly condemn the verbal attacks on Advaniji . After writing this blog I am relieved of my guilt . At least I have raised my voice against the insult being heaped on the aging patriarch of the family .

I am happy Advaniji , I am not in the list of people , who failed you at this juncture of your life .

VIDUR

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