The original poster boy relents

The eternal charioteer of the BJP, octogenarian L.K. Advani was at it again. The original iron man of BJP shows no sign of caving in. We must try and understand why he behaves like an obstinate political nonconformist, hell bent on taking the power that be in the organization.Narendra Modi once Advani’s protégée are not on good terms, at least now. This was the last chance for Advani to show his mettle, which ultimately melted much before it could yield any surprise. Gandhinagar is one Lok sabha seat, which Advani always nurtured and remained attached to it since 1991, till famously ideological split was surfaced during Modi’s elevation as Prime Ministerial candidate. Advani had almost quit all party posts opposing this move. Party prevailed and stopped him from taking such drastic steps. Everything was going as planned by the party’s spin doctors till Advani started showing discomfiture. He put his feet down and wanted to walk away from Modi’s shadow. Probably he thought Madhya Pradesh was a good bet for him, where in Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s company he would feel at ease. What happened in last two weeks, which changed Advani’s heart? On 28th Februray, when Advani visited Gandhinagar, he had told the media that he would again contest from Gandhinagar. But in this period came 4-5 lists of candidates and Advani found his name missing. Advani thought it right to make his point and told his party that he would like to contest from Bhopal. That unnerved the party and RSS. It was time for them to realize that Advani had caught them unawares.  More than party, Modi was more concerned that Advani’s walking away will send wrong signals. Sangh impressed upon Advani and conveyed that his contesting from Bhopal is of no consequence. Modi is BJP Prime ministerial candidate and hailed by the cadre as last hope for the party. Party’s assertion that there would be no softening of stand once decision is taken; Advani had no option but to cave in. May this step of the party be seen as Advani’s last ditch effort to save his position inside the party apparatus.