Atal Bihari Vajpayee-LK Advani duo built BJP from scratch

NEW DELHI: Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani, three years his junior, were close associates for seven decades and virtually nurtured the fledgling Bharatiya Jana Sangh and its successor BJP into the strong force that it is today.

Though Advani was the organisation man who built the BJP not only through induction of several leaders with potential but also through issues like the Ram temple movement, BJP’s acceptance among a wide spectrum of political parties came due to the charisma and affable persona of Vajpayee.Mourning his death, Advani said, “To me, Atalji was more than a senior colleague — in fact, he was my closest friend for over 65 years… Atalji will be remembered as the pioneer of the first ever stable non-Congress coalition government at the Centre and I had the privilege of working as his deputy for six years. As my senior, he always encouraged and guided me in every possible manner”.

Vajpayee was already a known figure in national politics in the 1950s when Advani was a ‘pracharak’ in Rajasthan. Unlike Vajpayee, Advani preferred to toil for the organisation and would shun the limelight.



In many ways, the two leaders are very different from each other but got along famously. Vajpayee was an orator while Advani avoided public speaking for a long time; Vajpayee was a foodie while Advani is a frugal eater; Vajpayee would have no qualms in hobnobbing with leaders from different ideological persuasions but they had issues with Advani; Vajpayee was the secular, avuncular face with a perpetual smile while Advani would mostly have a serious demeanour.

But their love for literature and cinema and their common background as journalists (Advani wrote film reviews) helped them bond as friends. BJP leaders concede that two had their share of differences over issues but both had a tacit understanding where if one of them had spoken on a matter, the other would not contradict it in public even in case of a disagreement.

They were cabinet colleagues in the Morarji Desai government formed post-emergency with Vajpayee as foreign minister and Advani holding the information and broadcasting portfolio. After the Janata government fell and BJP was formed, Advani began strengthening the party. When BJP lent outside support to the VP Singh government in 1989, Advani played a critical role. BJP withdrew support to the government when Advani’s rath yatra was stopped at Samastipur by then Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad in 1990. Vajpayee kept away from Advani’s rath yatra to gather support for building the Ram temple at Ayodhya.

He was not present at the site when the Babri mosque demolition took place on December 6, 1992. While BJP moved towards an aggressive Hindutva agenda and Advani’s popularity soared, Vajpayee preferred to be in the shadows. However, Advani realised that for BJP to get new allies the moderate face of Vajpayee had to be played up. He announced at the party conclave in Mumbai in 1995 that Vajpayee will be prime minister if BJP-led NDA comes to power.

BJP leaders concede that two had their share of differences over issues but both had a tacit understanding where if one of them had spoken on a matter, the other would not contradict it in public even in case of a disagreement. After the Babri mosque demolition, Vajpayee had said the incident should not have happened. In 2002, Vajpayee wanted then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to quit following riots in the state but Advani saved his protégé. Advani did not participate in the Lahore bus ride that Vajpayee took to bring peace with Pakistan.

Despite these issues, the almost seven decade-long association between the two is one of the longest and closest Indian politics has ever seen between two leaders.