It was a weak ending to high drama. BJP patriarch L.K. Advani, who tried to trigger off a crisis within the party by quitting from key posts, was forced to withdraw his resignation following the intervention of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Mr Advani had resigned from the party’s parliamentary board, election committee and national executive. He, however, retained his position as NDA working chairman and parliamentary party chief.
His retraction in just 36 hours was being viewed as a major “loss of face” for the party’s “tallest leader’, who had resigned only on Monday claiming that he was “finding it difficult to reconcile either with the current functioning of the party or the direction in which it was going”. Making it clear that there was going to be “no compromise” on the Modi issue, the only assurance the patriarch got was that his complaints would be addressed by BJP chief Rajnath Singh personally.
With the entire Advani camp, ranging from Ms Sushma Swaraj, Ms Uma Bharti, Mr Jaswant Singh, Mr Ananth Kumar and Mr Balbir Punj, among others, standing, the BJP chief addressed a press meet at the patriarch’s Prithviraj Road residence: “The RSS sarsangchalak, Mohan Bhagwat, has asked him to accept the parliamentary board decision and continue to guide the party in the national interest. Advanji has accepted Bhagwatji’s advice.” Though there was talk of Mr Advani being present as the leaders put up a show of unity in front of the media, the patriarch was conspicuous by his absence. When asked about Mr Advani’s absence, the BJP chief replied: “I requested Advani not to be here at the press conference as it would have been against common etiquette.” However, some in the BJP felt Mr Advani, who felt “somewhat beaten”, was unwilling to face the media. This is the second time in the last eight years that he has resigned and later retracted.
However, sources said that to assuage his feelings Mr Advani was also told that the PM candidate for the party would be decided only after proper consultation. Mr Advani’s apparent grouse against the RSS micromanaging the BJP’s internal affairs fell by the wayside as he himself was made to yield to RSS pressure. It may be recalled that before leaving for Rajasthan on Tuesday morning, the BJP chief had said there was “no RSS interference in the party”. The other verbal assurance given by the BJP chief to him was that he and the NDA allies would be consulted before the party decided the PM candidate.
However, as things stand today, the BJP might go to the polls without officially declaring its PM candidate. The elevation of Mr Modi to chairman of the election campaign committee was a clear indication that the BJP had made him its main charioteer.
Though Mr Advani tried to cover the reasons for his resignation by saying the BJP had ceased to be the “same idealistic party created by Dr Mookerji, Deendayalji, Nanaji and Vajpayeeji,” his main objection was to the rapid rise of Mr Modi in the BJP.
Though Mr Rajnath Singh continued to describe Mr Advani as their “tallest leader”, it was clear that the BJP and RSS had served up a fait accompli. If Mr Advani did not withdraw his resignation, the party would have kept him in limbo by not accepting it. Efforts were on to cajole Mr Advani since Tuesday morning with Ms Swaraj, Mr Nitin Gadkari, Ms Uma Bharti, Mr Jaswant Singh, Mr Gopinath Munde and Mr Ravishankar Prasad trooping in and out his residence. Around 2.30 pm, the RSS chief spoke to Mr Advani and made him withdraw his resignation. Soon after the announcement, Mr Modi tweeted, “I had said yesterday that Advaniji will not disappoint lakhs of workers. Today, I wholeheartedly welcome his decision.”