L K Advani : Man Who Won The Battle But Lost The War! Read Here To Know More

In 90s Indian politics was revolving around this guy but today he’s been confined and sent into political exile by his own party, party which he cradled himself. Man who had all the power to change the course of Indian Politics, at one point of time he became synonym of Indian politics is now powerless, helpless and unaided and the people whom he nurtured and taught the political maneuver has taken his place and shown exit doors to him. Newton’s third law says “Whatever Goes Up Comes Down” and we can say that Mr. Advani is paragon to this law.  Lal Krishna Advani , man who ruled the Indian politics once, the Patriarch of Bhartiya Janta Party is not in the country’s political picture anymore.

As famously said by Cabinet Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari, ” Politics is a game of compulsions, limitations and contradictions”. BJP’s compulsion because leadership has put limitation on age to fight an election so that it does not contradict with plan of BJP’s “Top” leadership comprise of Amit Shah and PM Modi. Contemporary  Politics is having hard time to accept politicians who can not influence public anymore and survival of the fittest is the basic law of nature suggested by Charles Darwin and in politics person who can influence the people is the fittest and right now its PM Modi.

Now the question is not why BJP did this to Mr. Advani? We all saw it is coming, later if not sooner but the real question is, was there any other way which BJP could have adopted to avoid such embarrassment for the party and for one of the tallest and veteran leader of Indian politics?  and another biggest question is that did Mr. Advani miss the train of graceful retirement?

Yes BJP had couple of options, they could have given one last chance to Mr. Advani to leave the turf in his own term with his head held high but unfortunately that did not happen. In fact Mr. Amit Shah did not even meet him to tell that party is not giving ticket this time. And answer to my second question is also yes, he missed the train by 10 years, he could have taken a graceful retirement like former PM Vajpayee (who bid adieu the public life in 2005) in 2009 after the defeat of BJP in general election.  He was given a fair chance but he for some reason blew it. BJP was formed on 06th April 1980 and Lt. Mr. Vajpayee and L K Advani were two founder members who changed the course of Indian politics. 90s was all about Mandal and Kamandal politics, Mandal was held by congress and other parties whereas Kamandal was held by Bhartiya Janta Party and L K Advani had the flag of Hindutatva in his hand, he became popular among Hindus in no time as public sentiments with Lord Rama’s Temple was gaining space and voice.

L K Advani turned those voices into sound waves which could be heard all over the country. His popularity was soaring and every other leader inside and outside  BJP were becoming dwarf and all of sudden one day Mr. Advani himself announced candidature of Mr. Vajpayee for PM. Mr. Advani knew that he can bring the votes but Atal Bihari Vajpayee can bring the allies and that period of time was period of coalition government. Mr. Vajpayee had the nationwide acceptability and it was one of the right decision Mr. Advani took but since then Mr. Advani lost his luck somewhere, two thing happened that day one Mr. Vajpayee became BJP’s candidate for PM post and second Mr. Advani became PM in waiting and till date this is stuck with him. Even though he gain more power inside and outside the party after that , so much power that people started to neglect and disobey Mr. Vajpayee after 2002 his own fate was changing slowly. His public appeal started to die away after 2009’s general election yet he was an important figure in Indian politics till 2014 but after that everything changed,  even he did not pass the baton officially it was snatched from him.

Irony is that he was replaced by his own student of politics whom he saved once after 2002 Gujarat riots, PM Modi then Chief Minister of Gujarat. Since 2014 Mr. Advani is living his public life in silence, rarely we see him on TV giving interviews to news channel or his speeches in public domain. His recent blog came after 5 years since his last blog in April 2014.

Last year when former PM Mr. Vajpayee died after a prolonged illness we saw Mr. Advani but this time it was not a Loh Purush (Man of Steel) but an old , slouched man with tears in eyes as his long time friend, ally and mentor’s mortal remains were consigned to flames. That day he became more alone, his loneliness could be seen in that crowd.

In his recent blog Mr. Advani has shown glimpse of his pain which he kept with himself after BJP replaces him with Amit Shah. Time never stops for anyone this is what Mr. Advani knows too but does not he deserve respect, Respect which BJP has constantly refused to give him.

In his post he has conveyed his gratitude towards the people of Gandhinagar from where he is the current MP, he has written, “I take this opportunity to convey my most sincere gratitude to the people of Gandhinagar, who have elected me to the Lok Sabha six times since 1991. Their love and support has always overwhelmed me.”

It is clearly a per-retirement speech type article from Mr. Advani. People like Vajpayee, Advani or Sharad Pawar are not mere politicians but they are more than that. They have so much experience of public life, they are the institution of politics.

He has also written, ” The essence of Indian democracy is respect for diversity and freedom of expression. Right from its inception, the BJP has never regarded those who disagree with us politically as our “enemies”, but only as our adversaries. Similarly, in our conception of Indian nationalism, we have never regarded those who disagree with us politically as “anti-national”. The party has been committed to freedom of choice of every citizen at personal as well as political level.”

Is he pointing out towards how undemocratic his own party becoming? Or are we reading too much? It could be nothing more than an advice from a senior politician who has vast experience of public life. Whatever the case may be there is a pain deep inside his hear, it was evident in 2013 when party announced Modi’s candidature for PM Post. Even then people accused him of being too ambitious, some of his own party members accused him of sabotaging the party.

How history will remember Mr. Advani? A man who not only gave the resignation from his parliamentary seat but refused to fight an election till he gets the clean chit from corruption charges just to maintain probity in public life. or A man who had everything within his reach even the PM Post but he passed on it to the most appropriate candidate or May be as a man who won the battle but lost the war! Hope history will be kinder to him unlike his party.

What next for him? Only time can answer!

Read his latest blog

Little About His Personal Life

Former deputy Prime Minister Mr. Lal Krishna Advani born on 08th November 1927 in Karachi, Pakistan (then Undivided India) , is from Hindu Sindhi family to parents Kishanchand D. Advani and Gyani Devi. Kishanchand D. Advani and Gyani Devi. L. K. Advani married Kamla Advani (1932–2017) in February 1965. He has a son, Jayant, and a daughter, Pratibha.