BJP’s senior leaders – Powerless Mentors

By Deepak Parvatiyar

August 29, 2014

Recently, the BJP dropped three of its senior-most leaders – former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, from its highest decision-making body – the BJP Parliamentary Board. Call it a generational shift but the move has raised many eyebrows. Of course, Vajpayee is ailing and is no more active in politics. Yet, we all know that till as late as this year’s general elections and until the rise of Narendra Modi, Advani had still nurtured his prime ministerial ambition. It goes without saying that Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi, were the most powerful leaders of the BJP in recent times, till Modi upstaged them all! Now the trio is included in a specially created group called the Margdarshak Mandal (Guiding Committee).

No Role for Founders of BJP 

What does the dropping of the BJP veterans from the Parliamentary Board and compartmentalising them as mentors signify? Of course, there is a generational shift in the Bharatiya Janata Party now. As Modi’s progeny Amit Shah, just about 50 year old, was handpicked to lead the party, the party’s new mantra for success is indeed ‘yuva shakti’ (the power of youth). Obviously, Modi realises the power of youth as he meticulously moves on to cultivate youths as his core constituency. In most of his election rallies, he tried to woo the youth with promises such as creating jobs for one million youth who are added to India’s workforce every month. After all, 65 per cent of India’s population is under 35 year age, and half the country’s population of 1.25 billion people is under the age of 25! So wasn’t it expected that once in power, Modi’s obsession with the youth will only grow? Yet before we dig deep into the issue, I am reminded of a story from Panchtantra — the story of the shrewd old Gander whose warning that the creeping vine at the root of the fig tree should be removed while still tender and readily cut went unheeded by a flock of geese living on the fig tree. As the creeper grew, it facilitated a hunter to climb the fig tree, lay a snare among the nests, and caught the geese once they returned at nightfall. It goes beyond doubt that both Advani and Joshi were wary of Modi’s rise in the party. Yet, can we say that unlike the Gander, they were rather more concerned about their own political future?

Rewards for Toeing Modi’s Line

Modi, of course, was forthright on the issue of infusing young blood into the party right from the beginning since he was anointed as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP before the general elections. He ensured that the elders were denied party ticket to contest and even thrown out of the party when they protested – Jaswant Singh being a case in point. (On the other hand, once his schemes worked out well for him, he even feted those elders, who had toed his line. They all are now comfortably ensconced in Raj Bhawans as state Governors!) All but Advani and Joshi! They had had the stature and clout to challenge Modi then. Braving uncertainties over their future in the wake of the NaMo surge, they insisted on contesting and won too. (it was at the very last moment — in the BJP’s fifth list, that Advani could get the ticket to contest from Gandhinagar while Joshi’s protest was overlooked and he was relocated to Kanpur from Varanasi to pave the way for Modi. Even in Kanpur he faced hostile party workers, many of whom resigned opposing Joshi’s candidature). So weren’t the battlelines drawn between the Modi-led young brigade and the ‘old’ duo, Advani and Joshi, there and then itself? Wasn’t this expected therefore that they would be made to pay for their (mis)demeanour sooner than later? Consider these:

• The duo did not get a place in Modi’s ‘young’ cabinet.
• For the first time ever, they have been stripped of all decision-making powers within the party as they are no more a part of the all powerful decision making body of the BJP Parliamentary Board.
• Even in the 5-member Margdarshak Mandal, they cannot ignore Modi who is very much present there along with former BJP president and union home minister Rajnath Singh – who oversaw Modi’s rise in the party, and the ailing former prime minister Vajpayee who is no more active in politics!

Quick to capitalise on the internal contradictions within the BJP, the Congress prompted: “Joshiji and Advaniji are not the Margdarshak Mandal. They are ‘Mookdarshak’ (mute spectators) and are there to silently see whatever is happening.”

Is it end of the Road for Advani – Joshi ?

So, is this the end of the political road for Advani and Joshi? In the absence of any active participation in the party’s decision-making process, their counsel now is seen to be only advisory in nature. The pace with which the party has moved to show the door to its elders is, indeed, electrifying. Obviously, Modi relishes his identity of a ‘doer’. He doesn’t procrastinate as has been obvious from his many crucial decisions in his three months at the helm – particularly on foreign policy matters – be it China, Japan, BRICS or SAARC. Yet Modi also needs to show the same urgency and purpose on the home front where his ‘achhey din’ concept seems to be dragging to a point that now threatens to adversely affect the party’s poll prospects – as reflected in the BJP’s dismal show at the recent assembly by-elections in four states too.