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ShareWelcome the latest addition to the growing tribe of politicians-turned-authors --Narendra Modi. The Hindutva demagogue has penned a book in praise of the RSS, titled Jyoti Punj.
It's due to hit the bookstores next week after a glittering launch in Ahmedabad. Even before it's out, the whispers have started. If Advani's memoirs My Country My Life are meant to showcase his prime ministerial qualities, is Modi's tribute to the RSS aimed at catapulting him into the No 2 slot?
BJP circles recall that when the party was searching for a replacement chief minister for Keshubhai Patel in Gujarat in 2001, Modi, then general secretary at headquarters, had organised a felicitation function for the RSS leadership of the day.
An evening of fulsome praise for the Sangh and Modi was soon ensconced in Ahmedabad as CM. The rest, as they say, is history. Modi shrewdly realises that the route to the top in the BJP runs through Nagpur and after his stunningvictory in the state assembly he's been at pains to repair his ruptured relationship with the big bosses of the Sangh. The book is his peace offering at the saffron altar.
Advani, on the other hand, has hit a rough patch with embarrassing discoveries of factual and historical inaccuracies in his autobiography. Those who tracked him during the momentous rath yatra days are quite puzzled by the fall in calibre.
They nastily attribute it to his inexplicable dependence on a former journalist, now columnist, who seems to specialise in tripping him up. The same person masterminded the Jinnah caper, arguably the most humiliating period of Advani's political life, which saw the RSS stripping him of the post of BJP president.
The damage may not be as severe this time but it looks like the gentleman concerned was not quite as rigorous as he should have been is his editing of Advani's penmanship before passing the memoirs on to the publisher.
Many political leaders like to nurture a group of "intellectuals" to use as a sounding board or to assist them with inputs for their speeches and writings. Advani is no different. Maybe he needs to pay closer attention to the quality of advice he's getting as he launches his final bid to capture the PM's post.
TAILPIECE
The Congress has no clue what to do with the man of the moment, Arjun Singh. As soon as the Supreme Court gave the judicial nod to OBC reservations in educational institutions, the quota man was besieged with telephone calls from leaders of the UPA's Mandal partners.
From Lalu Yadav to Ambumani Ramadoss to Ram Vilas Paswan to Karunanidhi to Brinda Karat, all rang within minutes of each other to congratulate him. The silence from the Congress was deafening.
Not a single cabinet colleague or senior leader spoke to Singh that day. Singh must have felt very lonely indeed in his hour of apparent triumph. It was not till the next morning, when the Union cabinet gathered for its weekly meeting that the pat from the Congress came, reluctantly.
Singh made an appearance after a long absence, almost as a challenge to the colleagues who had opposed his quota move. But they didn't fall into his trap.
One by one, they congratulated him with his most vocal critic Kapil Sibal showing the way. Methinks they spoke with a forked tongue. Judging by the opinions being expressed privately, the schisms in the government on this issue are likely to reappear.
Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net
