It was not quite the Toyota Rath heading towards Ayodhya, but L.K. Advani made a significant journey last week when he got into his Ambassador car and sped towards the RSS headquarters at Keshav Kunj in Delhi. The meeting was the climax of a 43-day crisis for the BJP president. Ever since June 4 when Advani had his little tryst with history at Jinnah's mausoleum in Karachi, he has been facing censure from the RSS. Battling rumours of an ignominious exit, it was finally on the evening of July 17 that Advani got the public reprieve he had been bargaining for. After the meeting, RSS General Secretary Mohan Bhagwat issued a statement which spoke of the RSS' desire for the BJP to undertake a mid-course correction in its "ideology, conduct, organisational affairs and encourage a new leadership". But the statement also said that "the Sangh will not interfere in the BJP's reforms process". Translating the reprieve, party Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu said later that Advani would not resign as party chief. "We intend to address the RSS concerns and move forward. It is my understanding that they are satisfied," he said.

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BREATHER: Advani walks off with a temporary reprieve from the RSS

BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman V.K. Malhotra said that "Advani would remain both the leader of Opposition and party chief during the monsoon session of Parliament". Argues a BJP leader: "Advani has always said that he will resign once he grooms a younger leader. But is the younger leadership ready to take over right now?" According to sources, the deal with the RSS is that while Advani would carry out the necessary "reforms" within the BJP, he would be allowed to step down as party chief at a time ostensibly of his choice and not under RSS pressure. The BJP also postponed its National Executive meeting which was scheduled to be held in Chennai from July 21 to September 16. Although Advani and Naidu were keen to go ahead as planned, others-led by A.B. Vajpayee-felt that the meet would merely keep the leadership issue alive in the media.

The second act of the post-Jinnah drama began with the RSS meet in Surat early this month. Advani's ideological deviation was the main focus at this interaction. The Parivar decided to send its second-generation troika of Bhagwat, Madan Das Devi and Suresh Soni to call on both Advani and Vajpayee and apprise them of the RSS' opposition to the current BJP chief. First they called on Vajpayee who said that he was not in favour of Advani stepping down under RSS pressure. The three then met Advani and, raising the issue of one-man-one-post, indicated that they would like him to step down as party chief rather than as leader of the Opposition. Somewhat hurt, Advani retorted that he had no intention of resigning just yet. He pointed out that in April when RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan had asked for a generational change in the BJP leadership, he had offered his resignation. At that time it was refused by none other than Bhagwat himself. Advani reminded Bhagwat that the RSS had told him that there was no need for an immediate resignation as he needed time to groom a younger leadership. Well, said Advani, he needed more than two months to groom a younger generation. Moreover, he added that he would resign when the BJP asked him to. The Sangh has always maintained that it is an ideological outfit and not a political one. Going by this logic, Advani's supporters felt that it had no right to ask for a BJP chief's resignation.

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THE DICTATOR: Sudarshan wants a more malleable BJP president

This was probably the first time that Advani has stood up to the RSS. What bolstered his confidence was the support of Vajpayee, who has never encouraged RSS interference in BJP politics. In fact, this is one reason why Sudarshan and Co want a "generational change" in the BJP leadership. Both former RSS pracharaks themselves, Vajpayee and Advani consider themselves equal, if not senior, to the current RSS leadership. The second rung of the BJP would be a more pliable leadership for the RSS to control. In fact, after the meeting of its leaders with Advani, the RSS set out an ideological road map before party office-bearers. The next day, however, media reports denying that the Sangh had sought Advani's resignation angered its leaders. In response, RSS leader M.G. Vaidya wrote in his column in the regional daily Tarun Bharat that the Sangh had indeed sought Advani's ouster. Then, claiming to act under RSS direction, BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana initiated the letter campaign. Writing to Advani and marking a copy to Vajpayee, he asked for Advani's ouster from both the posts. Other missives followed from Pyarelal Khandelwal, Ashwini Kumar and K. Janakrishnamurthy.

Sensing a crisis, S. Gurumurthy, Advani's friend and RSS ideologue, flew to Delhi over the weekend. Another interface between Advani and the Sangh was Rajya Sabha member Balbir Punj. Points out Punj: "The RSS and the BJP share the same concerns. The difference is only in the nuances." But it was only after Advani's oldest ally in the party, Vajpayee, dialled Nagpur and spoke to Sudarshan on July 16 that the crisis was finally resolved and the broad parameters of the ceasefire worked out. The next day, Advani drove to Keshav Kunj and met Bhagwat and Soni. Gloats an RSS functionary: "He came all the way to meet our No 2."

For now, Advani seems to have bought himself time. He is hoping to consolidate his position with a win in the Bihar polls. NDA Convener George Fernandes too has taken up cudgels on his behalf. But the Sangh has made it clear that it is not interested in Advani's resignation as leader of the Opposition but as party chief. The party's ideology is decided by the BJP chief and the Sangh wants a malleable candidate in place. When a senior BJP leader asked Sudarshan recently if the Sangh had a candidate in mind, he replied, "Jisko hum banayenge, teen maheene mein voh neta ban jayega (Whoever we appoint will become a leader in three months). The media will make him a leader." However, this has not been the case with other BJP presidents: Bangaru Lakshman, Janakrishnamurthy, Kushabhau Thakre and Naidu may have managed the requisite TRPs as BJP chief, but none of them managed to become a mass leader.

And therein lies the irony of the BJP. There is no alternative to Advani. He had likened himself to the mythical warrior Arjuna soon after his Pakistan visit. But, as a BJP MP said, "The tragedy of the BJP is that there are no Arjunas. Only Abhimanyus caught in the chakravyuh." And the one most miserably trapped appears to be the leader himself.

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