LK Advani misses the prime ministerial bus

BJP leader LK Advani on Saturday became yet another former deputy prime minister to miss the prime ministerial bus.

Joining the league of veterans like Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Jagjivan Ram, Y B Chavan and Devi Lal, the BJP leader failed to make it to the top post.

Only two deputy prime ministers -- Morarji Desai and Charan Singh -- could make it to the top post.
 
Desai was deputy prime minister from 1967 to 1969 in the Government headed by Indira Gandhi, when she became prime minister for the first time.

Charan Singh became prime minister after dislodging Desai, the first non-Congress prime minister who came at the helm of affairs as head of the Janata Party government in the post-Emergency era.

81-year Advani, projected as a "strong and decisive" leader by the BJP in the polls, was Deputy Prime Minister from 2002 to 2004 in the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
 
But, with the Congress-led UPA all set to retain power at the Centre, Advani's dreams of becoming PM lay shattered.

A second chance appears unlikely for the BJP's aging 'Iron Man' as during the campaign the saffron party started projecting Narendra Modi as future prime minister, a strategy that is being rued by some leaders in the wake of defeat.