Crisis in BJP
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: June 12, 2013 -

Regardless of the optimism shown by some party leaders over resolving the crisis in the main opposition party in India, BJP; it appears to be only deepening with every passing day.

Upset over the elevation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the man to lead the party's campaign in the Parliamentary elections due next year in the just concluded National executive meeting of BJP at Goa, veteran party leader Lal Krishna Advani has put in his resignation letter from all the party positions on Monday.

And despite refusal of the party President Rajnath Singh to accept the resignation letter and the frenzy efforts being made by other party leaders to prevail upon the BJP patriarch to reconsider his decision, Advani has shown no sign of any relent from his stand.

It is obvious from the strongly worded allegation that Advani has raised in his resignation letter against the party of losing the direction shown by its founding members as well as against some of party leaders of thinking about their personal agendas only, that the crisis in BJP is becoming more serious than anyone could ever thought of and that it is going to be not an easy task at all for the party leaders to bring him back, however, hard they may try. In fact, Advani seems to have closed all the doors behind him when he sets out to put in his resignation.

So, what has prompted Advani to take such a drastic step of not just resigning from all party posts including National Executive, Parliamentary Board and Election Committee but also resorting to public embarrassment of his own party which he had nurtured so well before calling it quit at such a critical juncture, thus, pushing BJP into one of its worst crisis ever?

Of course, the upset of Advani over the cold shoulder treatment given to him by the party's National Executive meeting at Goa by appointing Narendra Modi as the head of the party's election campaign committee for the upcoming 2014 Lok Sabha elections is understandable.

The appointment of a political upstart like 63-year old Narendra Modi as the head of the party's election committee, which by no means could be now rescinded, means a crushing blow to the 85-year old Advani's secret political ambition of becoming the party's Prime Ministerial candidate in the upcoming polls.

So, the present crisis in BJP is more in the nature of a clash of personalities and a battle for political control between the old and new guard of the party, which normally leads to splits in political parties not just in India but also around the globe.

But what we could not understand here is the drama that has been created by a political stalwart like Advani, who always swear by young blood in the party, over the appointment of his own protégé to a post, which he himself could not handle in the last Lok Sabha elections in 2009.

That is the height of political hypocrisy.