RSS straightens out LK Advani, clears the path for Narendra Modi

He lost his battle. No sooner than it began. In less than 36 hours after he resigned from key leadership posts in the BJP, LK Advani withdrew his resignation on Tuesday.

The dénouement to the political drama came at a hurriedly convened press conference at Advani’s house in the evening, where BJP president Rajnath Singh, flanked by Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari, announced that the party patriarch had accepted the parliamentary board’s rejection of his resignation.

In a prepared statement, Rajnath assured Advani that “his concerns about the functioning of the party would be properly addressed” and that “the president will discuss the modalities of addressing these concerns”.

The ‘protest’ resignation had come close on the heels of protégé Gujarat CM Narendra Modi’s elevation as chairman of the party’s poll campaign committee at the BJP national executive meet held over the last weekend in Goa.

After hectic parleys held between Advani and a number of leaders, it was RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat who finally got through to the sulking veteran and helped the BJP broker a truce with him. Bhagwat spoke to Advani in the afternoon, asking him to respect the central parliamentary board’s decision of rejecting his resignation and to continue guiding the party in national interest. And Advani acquiesced.

Modi stayed away from the mollification process.

But even the press conference wasn’t without the hint of a drama: Advani kept away from it. In defence, Singh clarified that he had asked Advani to skip the press conference, saying “it will not look nice that you sit and hear me”.

Besides refusing to take more questions, none of the leaders elaborated on the details of the compromise that the party worked out with Advani at the behest of the RSS. The assurance of discussing the “modalities” of his concerns is a euphemism that explains nothing.

Sources in the Advani camp claimed that Bhagwat assured the patriarch that the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate will not be chosen without his nod, as was done with Modi’s appointment. Senior leader Venkaiah Naidu claimed that neither had Advani mentioned Modi’s appointment nor had he laid down conditions.