A couple of years ago, BJP veteran LK Advani is understood to have told a party leader that the party appeared to be moving in a direction where the older generation would be made guides and philosophers. He did not use the word 'marg darshak (mentor)', but the senior leader had apparently sensed the inevitability of a generational shift in the party.
Advani, 86, along with his other octogenarian party colleagues, ailing former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Murli Manohar Joshi, have been dropped from the BJP's parliamentary board, the party's highest decision-making body. The three have now been made members of a 'marg darshak mandal', in a move that not only signals the end of an era, but also signifies the firmer grip of the new leadership.
The 12-member new parliamentary board, under the chairmanship of 50-year-old party president Amit Shah, will now have Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and party general secretary JP Nadda apart from PM Narendra Modi, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot and Ram Lal. Incidentally, when Modi was included in the board last year, Advani was understood to have favoured the inclusion of Chouhan too.
With the changes, the average age of BJP's parliamentary board is now 59.5 years. Advani, Vajpayee and Joshi, founders of the party, have been members of the parliamentary board since the party was formed nearly four decades ago. The new 'marg darshak mandal' also has Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh.
A party leader said that unlike in certain other parties where there is no change in leadership, in the BJP, there is a view that the younger generation should take over. DMK supremo M Karunanidhi is 90 years old, NCP chief Sharad Pawar is 74 and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah is 76.
For Advani, the writing on the wall had started becoming legible last year when Modi was first made chief of the party's campaign committee despite his reservations and three months later declared prime ministerial candidate.
After Modi became Prime Minister heading a council of ministers in which the cut off age was 75, Advani was not averse to being made Speaker. That role too was denied to him. Though he was given a place in the front row in the Lok Sabha, Advani's clout had waned.
In the new mechanism scripted by the party, Advani and Joshi are unlikely to have decision-making powers. Asked about the role of the 'marg darshak mandal', BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said "going by its members you can understand its importance."
BJP sources said the decision was taken after consultations with leaders. The RSS, the party's ideological mentor with whom Advani has had a running battle after he praised Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah, is in favour of a generational shift in the party.
Advani, who became a member of the Jan Sangh in 1951, was the secretary for the RSS unit in Karachi before independence.
Party revamps CEC
The 15-member Central Election Committee has also been revamped. While Uttar Pradesh hardliner Vinay Katiyar has been dropped, union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram has been included. The party's new mahila morcha chief and former Aurangabad mayor Vijaya Rahatkar has replaced Saroj Pandey, an ex-officio member of the Committee.
The other CEC members are PM Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Ramlal and Shahnawaz Hussain.
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