If the BJP termed the bonhomie between its veteran leader L.K. Advani and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar at the National Integration Council meet on Monday as “established political protocol”, it surely raised many eyebrows in political circles.
The BJP claimed its leaders show courtesy even if they meet political opponents, trying to downplay warm exchange of greetings between Mr Advani, who had been sulking over Gujarat chief minister’s nomination as the saffron party’s prime ministerial candidate and Mr Kumar, whose party JD(U) had quit NDA over Mr Modi’s elevation. In fact, Mr Kumar had empathised with Mr Advani by saying the saffron party had left its “Iron Man” to “rust” after Mr Modi’s annointment as the PM candidate.
JD(U) had snapped its 17-year-old alliance with the BJP over Mr Modi’s elevation days after Mr Advani quit from key posts of the party after the Gujarat chief minister was named as campaign committee chief earlier this year, though he later withdrew his resignation. Days after JD(U) quit the NDA fold, its chief Sharad Yadav had said that his party could consider coming back to the alliance if Mr Advani gets back at the helm of the party.
At the National Integration Council meet, both Mr Advani and Mr Kumar greeted each other warmly. The day-long meeting has been called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the backdrop of communal violence at Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. This was the first meeting between the two leaders after JD(U) walked out of the NDA fold. Mr Advani had apparently warned the BJP leadership against elevating Mr Modi in the wake of JD(U)’s opposition to it. He had even called Mr Kumar to rethink on his party’s decision on snapping ties.
Mr Advani had skipped the party’s national council meet in Goa earlier this year where Mr Modi was elevated as the election campaign committee chief and had skipped the parliamentary board meeting earlier this month where the Gujarat chief minister was annointed as the PM candidate. He even shot off a letter to BJP chief Rajnath Singh questioning his style of functioning.