If there is a textbook case of the diminishing of a stalwart, it is that of Lal Krishna Advani in the BJP’s Modi era. Once Mr Advani brooked comparison only with Atal Behari Vajpayee, with whom he formed the duo that guided the star of the saffron party, at times even eclipsing the silver-tongued future Prime Minister.
However, the long march of the RSS’ political arm from obscurity to the bright lights seems to have produced the reverse effect on the personal profile of the man who worked his way up from Sindh before Partition and took the BJP to dizzy heights through his Ayodhya rathyatra. Perhaps it is written in the Book of Time that they must suffer who make the wrong call. Mr Advani flagrantly opposed the projection of Modi, once his favoured acolyte, as Prime Minister by the RSS. He is now calmly paying the price for not jettisoning in time the ambition to be PM. Should he have contested the Lok Sabha election? Perhaps he will ponder the question should he choose to put down his thoughts for posterity.
The striking changes in the BJP following Mr Modi’s elevation as PM include stripping Mr Advani of his halo. Last week Mr Modi became the head of the BJP parliamentary party and Mr Advani formally ceased to be the chairman of that body. There was no blood on the carpet. Those considered close to him, such as Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, had better look out.
