Once a formidable figure in the Bharatiya Janata Party, veteran party leader LK Advani is now seen by many within the party as a spent force. Not long back, the octogenarian had made his disapproval of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi quite public. Although the party somehow managed to cool down the the flaring tempers for a while, another storm was in the brewing.
Reports that soon surfaced said that Advani was keen to fight the Lok Sabha elections from Bhopal rather than Gandhinagar, considering his proximity to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. It is no secret that Advani does not share a comfortable equation with the Gujarat chief minister. Sources had told various media outlets that Advani feared that his electoral prospects may be damaged due to possible 'internal sabotage'. However, despite his apprehension, the party on Wednesday made Advani its Gandhinagar candidate.
"No courtesy was extended to LK Advani. The decision that he would fight the polls from Gandhinagar was made known to him through the press. Ideally Modi should have invited him to contest the polls from his state. It is surprising that when people like Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh and Modi himself are allowed to choose their seats, why was Advani not allowed to do that? If maximization of seats was BJP's criteria then Advani should have been allowed to choose his seat," Prabhu Chawla, editorial director of The New Indian Express, told CNN-IBN during a panel discussion.
LK Advani and Narendra Modi.
Reports suggested that a miffed Advani preferred to stay away from the Central Election Committee meeting of the party that was held in the National Capital on Wednesday evening.
"Advani's staying away from meeting is quite natural as his candidature was being discussed. The media is making too much of it. As suggested there is no difference among the top BJP leadership. The BJP is not a dynastic but democratic party. Everyone in the party is engaged with the 272+ mission and no internal sabotage is going on," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.
Chawla, however, found it hard to believe that it is democracy at work in the party.
"Advani was not given an opportunity to speak his mind. He constructed the party but BJP has thrown Advani out of the house. When the BJP is dislodging winning candidates like Navjot Singh Sidhu from Amritsar so that Arun Jaitley can be protected why was Advani not given the same right as the other parliamentary board members? In fact, Jaitley chose not to fight the polls from Delhi," he said.
Senior journalist Sharat Pradhan also agreed that the BJP top brass is creating divisions within the party with this forceful changing of seats.
"In quest of getting 50 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the party is creating squabbles in the lower ranks. They pulled out Murli Manohar Joshi from Varanasi against his wishes and Lalji Tandon from Lucknow again against his wishes. BJP president Rajnath Singh shifted himself out of Ghaziabad because he feared the rise of Aam Aadmi Party there. Lucknow is traditionally considered as a safe seat for the BJP. Modi wanted to contest from Lucknow but Singh kept it for himself. These decisions will negatively impact the party in the long run," Pradhan said.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi made it clear that his party is not concerned with the internal differences of the BJP. Having said that, he also mentioned that BJP is facing tough time due to unequal internal equations.
"It is clear that Modi and Advani are not the best of friends. It is astonishing that the BJP announced his candidature only in the fifth list. With Advani sending the message that he fears an internal sabotage, it is apparent that the BJP is party of squabblers and a party with internal differences. This is a party of small cabals indulging in squabbles," Singhvi said.
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