It’s official, Advani is PM-in-waiting

Vajpayee and RSS biggies back BJP’s decision

AHMEDABAD: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has finally resolved its leadership dilemma.

The party’s supreme decision-making body, the parliamentary board, has decided that Lal Krishna Advani, 80, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, will be the party’s prime ministerial candidate in the next general elections.

“The Lok Sabha elections are not far off now. The parliamentary board decided unanimously that Advaniji will lead the party in the next elections,” party president Rajnath Singh announced at a press conference. The board meeting was attended by Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and other senior leaders.

The party’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has already okayed the candidature of Advani. Singh said former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had also given his consent.

“We met Vajpayeeji. He said because of health reasons, he cannot participate in active politics. So, it is better that Advani leads.”

Advani thanked the party, Rajnath Singh and “particularly Atal Bihari Vajpayee, under whose leadership I have worked for a  long time”.

The timing of the party’s decision, coming as it does on the eve of the first phase of polling in Gujarat, is politically significant. Advani represents Gandhinagar  in the Lok Sabha and will be there to  vote on December 16.

While the move may not have any major impact on  voters in Gujarat, it has immense significance for the internal structure of the main opposition party.

It will give clarity to party workers on an issue that has been plaguing it for the past few years.

The other linkage is with Narendra Modi. Given the Gujarat chief minister’s highly personalised style of leadership, his image managers have been portraying him as larger than the party at various levels.

This has annoyed the central party leadership. A section of these leaders felt that if Modi won the Gujarat elections, it would only be a matter of time before his supporters started claiming a role for him on the national stage, including possible leadership of the party at the next elections.

The BJP brass and the RSS want to pre-empt any such situation and any consequent controversy that may arise in the near future. Advani has already mended fences with the RSS, putting behind the acrimony generated three years ago when he had praised Jinnah as a secular leader while on a tour of Pakistan.

Sources told DNA that the party leadership had taken a decision to elevate Advani a few days ago but had withheld an announcement as it wanted to deliberate on the modalities of the announcement.

A section of senior BJP leaders felt that, ideally, Vajpayee should have made the announcement to anoint his close associate of over five decades as successor. But given his failing health that was ruled out.

Advani’s anointment as prime minister in waiting became apparent last month when party stalwarts gathered at his residence on 30 Prithviraj Rd on his birthday.

For the first time, all chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and senior central leaders, including party chief Rajnath Singh, made it a point to be in the capital to greet him.

Till recently, only Vajpayee has been associated with a personality cult, not Advani. The birthday event sent out a clear signal that Advani would be stepping into Vajpayee’s shoes, even though there was nothing official about it.

The leadership issue was originally expected to be clinched at the Bhopal national executive meeting with Vajpayee making the announcement.

But Vajpayee’s message created more confusion than clarity, since his message talked about his intention to be back with the party shortly.

Said a senior party leader: “After being pushed to the margins in the wake of the Jinnah controversy over two years ago, Advani has yet again shown his ability to rise from the ashes.”