ADVANI- FALL OF THE GIANT

In the beginning of 1990’s when the Ram Mandir movement was at its peak, Advani symbolized ‘Hindutva’, which many thought would change the future course of this country. From being the poster boy of Hindutva to the controversial ‘home minister’ during the NDA regime to being the prime minister in the waiting, Advani has gone through plethora of highs & lows.

But unfortunately for Advani who once described himself as the prime minister in the waiting, that wait has ended on an eternal note. His 60 years political career is almost over on an all time low. The rising star of the BJP in the 90’s has been reduced to a leader minus authority of a directionless party. Advani build the BJP from the scratch to one of the biggest political party that is now struggling to keep afloat.



Over Shadowed by Vajpayee-The BJP from the time of its birth has relied completely on Vajpayee & Advani. Their personalities were quite contrasting from each other but they managed to build the party into a strong political entity. If Advani was the mass leader who created ripples by taking out the Rath yatra in 1990 that bolstered BJP’s electoral prospects, Vajpayee emerged as the liberal face of the right wing party and managed to lead a complex coalition for 6 years that helped BJP taste power for the first time. But there was a major difference between the 2 leaders…

Credibility Factor- What is it that made Vajpayee a more acceptable face even though Advani was considered a more natural leader due to his mass appeal? Vajpayee was a ‘consensus builder’ who had the charisma to not only unify his party but also various political outfits cutting across ideologies & regions. Even though BJP was a rightist, pro- hindutva party, it was Vajpayee’s credibility that brought various centrist & left inclined parties under the NDA government for 6 years. Advani was a respectful leader but not a credible one. And that is what went against him. It was his inconsistencies that led to his downfall rather then factionalism as many would believe.

The Ayodhya failure- During the ‘Ram Rath Yathra’ in the 1990's, Advani kept emphasizing that the Ram temple would be build only at the ‘exact site’ in Ayodhya and no where else. The Babri mosque was demolished in 1992 which he described as a tragic event but that did make him the darling of the hardliners. When the NDA did come to power, many within the BJP wanted him to be the PM to fulfill the Hindutva vision which he had campaigned for all this while. But he was not acceptable to other allies within the NDA due to his hardliner’s image. And when in power, he failed to push any of the promises he made which thrashed the aspirations of many hardliners. He lost their support from that time.

Controversial Administrator- His stint as the Home minister & Deputy PM were marked by controversies. He failed to act during the Gujarat riots when thousands were killed during the communal riots. The state was burning but Advani as the 'home minister' failed to control the situation. This did not go down well with his allies. The Kandahar hijacking was another question mark on his ability to deliver during crunch situations. His inability to act during tough time’s projected his image of a ’weak’ administrator who lacked the potential to lead this country.



The Jinnah Controversy- His Jinnah remarks were yet again another sign of inconsistency. A man who through out lived on the idea of ‘Akhand Bharat’ (Undivided India) suddenly called Jinnah, (the hate symbol for the BJP) a secular person is something that even the most liberal intellectuals couldn’t digest. He had to pay a price by stepping down from the post of BJP president. But this was a big gamble that Advani played in order to change his image among the masses. He knew in order to become PM he had to be a more liberal face like Vajpayee. That gamble failed with the 2009 election defeat. The biggest blow for him was the loss of RSS support, his backbone, which all this while projected him as the 'Mascot' of Hindutva

2009 Election Debacle- He gave his best during the 2009 elections. He raised the political temperature by hitting out directly on Manmohan Singh, who all this while discharged his duties silently. The idea of attacking Manmohan Singh on the personality issue rather than governance also went against him. In the personality clash, Dr Singh emerged as the winner thanks to Congress's thumping victory

The Rise of the Rebels- Advani’s decision to stick around for some more time made his position even more vulnerable. His decision to reward the likes of Jaitleys, Swarajs gave way for rebellion & indiscipline within the party. The rebels questioned his authority which had emaciated within the party.

The Jaswant Fiasco- The final nail in the coffin was the sacking of his old friend & loyalist, Jaswant Singh. Ironically Jaswant Singh was the only one to back him staunchly in 2005 for his Jinnah comments. In all fairness to Advani even if he wanted to defend Jaswant Singh, it was not possible because hardliners like Modi & Katiyar wanted some tough action. And Advani needed their support for survival at least till he makes a gracious exit.

Advani will no doubt be remembered as one of the strongest leaders who changed the face of Indian polity in the 1990's His political career was scripted by the RSS, which made him a hero. While Vajpayee made a gracious exit on his own terms, Advani had to be shown the door in a polite manner by the same RSS. Leaving a stable BJP behind would be the best way to say goodbye to his long & adventurous political career. He is known to be a fighter, but winning this final battle of his political career would be a task…

INTERESTING HISTORY OR BORING REALITY?

The other day I asked a bunch of college students – What is your view about Jinnah? Is it right on our part to blame him entirely for the partition?? The answers I got were - ‘That we really don’t know’…how does it matter now…But the most interesting answer out of all of them was ‘History is a boring subject and we all hated it in school’.

History is a funny subject. It not only gives an understanding about geographies but also creates social & political characters which ironically shape the future our polity. But the problem is that in more than one case, it is ultimately ‘one act’ which ‘makes’ or ‘breaks’ the image of historical characters. Little know Mangal Pandey became a hero after 1857 mutiny, Bhagat Singh became an icon of the freedom struggle after he was hanged by the British. ‘I Have a Dream’, the famous speech of Martin Luther King, Jnr, made his legacy immortal. Historians have always preferred to paint history in black & white. There are glorified heroes & evil ‘villains’ with no place for humans with grey shades. So if Mahatma Gandhi is the hero of independent India’s history, the one who steered us to freedom, history had to find a villain for this story as well!!! And that is Mohd Ali Jinnah, the man who is considered the mastermind for the partition.

History can never be accurate because selective facts are used by the author to supplement his/her interpretation of history. So if the history we studied in school considered ‘Jinnah’ the main culprit for the partition, our peers in Pakistan have been fed with history stating that Nehru- Gandhi were not concerned about Muslims and they would have suffered at the hands of the majority Hindus.

So let’s not get fooled by history which changes color from region to region. There is no harm in seeking the truth, but what is important is to realize that all protagonists of history were human beings. They also possessed grey shades & made mistakes at various stages. The partition was also a result of mistakes committed by leaders on both sides. Jinnah, Nehru, Patel were all humans and possessed grey shades. Their greatness cannot be undermined based on one incident. The fact still remains that all of them fought for the same cause and that was freedom. Had they all not stood together probably we (including Pakistan) would still be saying ‘hail the queen’. So the years of turmoil they all went through, including ‘Jinnah’ prior to independence cannot be discounted by India. Similarly Pakistan cannot discount Nehru’s role, who was instrumental in India’s freedom struggle

History is the best text to draw lessons & ensure not to commit mistakes in the future again. But alas, politicians still like digging the past to reap electoral benefits for power. They don’t understand nor do they want to understand history. It all depends as to which segment of the society are they catering to- Ambedkar for Dalits, Sarvarkar for RSS, Shivaji for Shiv Sena, etc.

So when Jaswant Singh not only tried to undo the ‘history’ of the BJP but the history of India, there was bound to be fireworks. Politicians normally enjoy most privileges but one of the few things that they are not entitled to do is to ‘retrace’ history because the ramifications are severe unless one is a LK Advani. It took Jaswant Singh’s one book to turn his political career upside down and create a havoc in the BJP. Seeking the truth is strictly prohibited for politicians because that can actually disturb the balance of our politics. Their history is determined by vote bank politics. But on the brighter side, as long as intellects including politicians like Jaswant Singh do remarkable scholarly work by exploring the possible realities hidden by many historians, the subject of history could become interesting for at least a few if not all in schools & colleges.