Advani refuses to bow out of political limelight

Nearly a month after he was made chairman of the BJP’s parliamentary party, Makar Sankranti, the beginning of the new year in much of north India, became the occasion for senior BJP leader LK Advani to break his silence on the party’s internal affairs and his own future.

The occasion was the screening of a film on him made by daughter Pratibha. “Makar Sankranti is the date for new beginnings. Let it be so for our party as well. I have always believed our shortcomings as a party exists within us, we should stop looking at external causes,” he said after watching the movie at his residence here on Thursday evening.

He said the state that the BJP found itself in was causing pain to many people, even “some of our adversaries.” “We are unnecessarily looking at our vipaksh (opponents), when we need to overcome our own shortcomings,” he said.

With this statement, Advani gave a subtle warning to all those who expected him to gently fade into benign retirement from party affairs.

Repeating his speech in December when he was made chairman of the party’s parliamentary group, he said his “yatra” in politics would continue for some time to come.

“My yatra began when I was 14. I became a member of the RSS to fight for India’s independence. But it did not stop at that. I don’t expect it to end anytime soon,” he said.

The film by Pratibha was a touching tribute to her father made for his birthday in November last year. A visibly moved Advani said that he always believed that while he found meaning in his ideological family, the Sangh Parivar, he found joy through his immediate family.