The fall of Advani, the man behind BJP’s rise

Twenty-five years since LK Advani rode the Ramjanmabhoomi wave to drag the BJP from the fringes to the mainstream, the octogenarian’s journey is ironically ending in ignominy when the BJP is at the pinnacle of its political power.

Advani, who, until two days back, had still considered himself politically relevant, will be facing trial for criminal conspiracy. In an interview to Lokmat two days ago, Advani had said that his political career was far from over. He had said it hurts him when his own partymen declare him politically unsuitable and offer advice on retirement. “It does not at all go down well with me whenever someone says something like that,” Advani had said.

However, the Supreme Court’s order on Wednesday, reviving criminal conspiracy against Advani, and BJP leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and others, draws the curtains on any future ambitions the BJP veteran may have harboured towards assuming the office of the President of India. Murli Manohar Joshi, former Human Resource Development Minister and an Ayodhya veteran, will also be tried for conspiracy, a prospect that casts similar doubts about his future consideration for any Constitutional post.

Elections for the Presidential post are due in June-July.

Responding to queries about whether the Apex Court’s ruling will impact selection of candidates for the posts of the President and Vice-President, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that such talk is “hypothetical”.

The silence and seemingly lack of support of their party bosses at the prospect of the BJP’s Margdardhak Mandal members facing trial in a criminal case is testimony to the loneliness of the architects of the Ayodhya movement at a time when there is a renewed thrust on construction of the Ram temple at the site where the Babri mosque once stood.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to have discussed the Supreme Court verdict at a meeting of his core group on Wednesday afternoon. Those present at the meeting were senior ministers Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari and M. Venkaiah Naidu.

However, all that came out of the BJP, in the wake of the Apex Court specifically calling out the names of Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi while pronouncing the judgment in open court to underline the fact that conspiracy charge had been revived, was a statement that the party will “study in detail” the verdict before offering comments. Senior leader and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, on his part, said the party “highly respects” the two veterans.

While the BJP maintained a silence, the two party veterans faced a predictable stream of verbal jibes and sarcasm from their political opponents. The first with his guns firmly trained at Prime Minister Narendra Modi was former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav who said Advani was a victim of a political conspiracy.

“Since Advani’s name was in circulation as a candidate for the post of the President, Modi, through well thought out politics struck it out,” said Lalu.

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