Narendra Modi in, LK Advani out : Wind of change within the BJP
- Sangai Express Editorial :: June 12, 2013 -

Narendra Modi in, LK Advani out. So is this how the dice is going to roll for the BJP ?

At the moment this seems to be it, with the BJP elevating Narendra Modi to the position of the BJP's campaign committee chief and LK Advani resigning from all the posts he held within the party.

A question of the old order giving way to the new or a question of the Saffron party settling for a new face, who it believes is the right man to deliver which Mr Advani failed to do so in 2009 ?

It could be either way or the answer may lie somewhere in between.

Certainly the wind of change blowing within the BJP has been felt for some time but what is uncertain and still remains in the realm of speculations is the question of whether Mr Narendra Modi has been elevated as the face of the BJP under the conviction that he is the man who can deliver at the next Parliamentary elections or is reflective of a party desperately seeking to fill the void created by the exit of Atal Behari Vajpayee from active politics.

At the moment, the changes that have been rung out may be read as the internal affairs of a party, but the question still remains whether the latest development can be solely taken as the internal affairs of a political party, especially in this age, when coalition politics has become the order of the day.

In all likelihood, it is the compulsion of coalition politics which 'delayed' the change in the internal equation of the BJP for there still hangs a critical question over the acceptability of Mr Modi as the Prime Minister candidate amongst some of the key allies of the BJP in the NDA.

The name of Mr Nitish Kumar, the strongman from Bihar comes to mind here.

Not withstanding the 2002 Gujarat riots, which left a blot on the image of Narendra Modi, it should be said that he has single handedly taken the BJP from strength to strength in that State.

The interesting question however is, whether a man who is into his third term as the Chief Minister of Gujarat will be able to have a pan India appeal.

This is where the crucial test lies, especially in the face of the open stand taken by Mr Nitish Kumar, whose party is a key ally of the BJP in the NDA.

Another significant question is whether the emergence of Mr Modi as the face of the BJP will automatically mean the submergence of LK Advani, who for decades has been the face of the BJP along side Atal Behari Vajpayee.

LK Advani failed to stop the Congress juggernaut in 2009. It is there on record. However what is also on record is the point that it was him, who almost single-handedly brought the BJP into the mainstream with his Rath Yatra and by deftly playing the Ram Mandir card in the early part of the 1990s.

Remember this was after the BJP was reduced to a footnote in the 1984 Parliamentary election. Advani is definitely in the winter of his life but to write his political obituary now may just prove to be premature.

As with life, nothing is certain in politics and while the Gujarat riots of 2002 may still be seen and interpreted as a 'pogrom' by his detractors, the more difficult task may lie in how Mr Modi manages to break the 'Gujarat centric' identity and emerge as a personality with a pan India appeal.

As things stand today, the situation is not so much about a Modi versus Rahul in the run up to the next Parliamentary election, but how the man from Gujarat can step into the shoes of a man like Atal Behari Vajpayee and how he can reach out to the people like Advani did with his Ram Mandir and Rath Yatra in the 90s.

It will also be about how he manages to take the allies in the NDA along with him.

Being the face of a political party is one thing which is something different from being the acceptable face of the other partners. This is the pre-requisite of coalition politics, where striking the right alliance with other parties has become the mantra for electoral success.