End of road for LK Advani? Man who built BJP won’t decide anymore

NEW DELHI: BJP patriarch and the party’s original Hindutva mascot LK Advani may no longer be involved in decision-making, signalling the end of an era and paving the way for a group of five leaders to steer the main opposition ahead of the next general elections.

In a mechanism championed by the BJP’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, key decisions will now be taken collectively by a group comprising Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, party president Rajnath Singh, former party chief Nitin Gadkari and leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Modi recently discussed this “presidium of sorts”, a senior RSS member told ET, adding that the Sangh wanted to dispel the impression that it was micro-managing the BJP’s affairs.

“Advani will continue to be a mentor for BJP leaders. But decisionmaking will be conducted elsewhere,” said the RSS member, who did not wish to be named.

Though Advani has had a running feud with the Sangh ever since he was forced to quit as BJP president in 2005 after he praised Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he is being increasingly seen as a dissident in the party. He has been publicly criticising the party for its failure to check corruption within its ranks, saying this has kept BJP from encashing on the disenchantment with the ruling Congress.

Advani chose to praise Sushma Swaraj at the recent meeting of the BJP’s national council, where Modi was toasted as the party’s de facto prime ministerial candidate.

Earlier, too, Advani had rooted for Swaraj, Uma Bharati and Ravi Shankar Prasad as replacement for Nitin Gadkari as party president.

“Advaniji is a very senior and respected leader of the party… Advaniji has been mentoring the BJP, nurturing young leaders. A leader with great principles and values, his advice and counsel will always steer the party,” BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.

For a leader believed to harbour prime ministerial ambitions, it is a much diminished role that does not seem to come naturally even at the age of 85.