The position of a compromise candidate is invariably an embarrassing one. He knows that he was not the first choice and that he enjoys no one?s trust and confidence. Mr Rajnath Singh, who has been made the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, finds himself in this unenviable position. His elevation does not come as a surprise since his name had been in the air from the time it became apparent that Mr L.K.Advani was not going to continue as the president of the party. The circumstances that made Mr Advani?s exit necessary are related to the compromise that made possible Mr Singh?s candidature. Mr Advani earned for himself the extreme displeasure of the leadership of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh by his comments about Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Pakistan. In retaliation, the men in Nagpur, the headquarters of the RSS, wanted to establish their control over the BJP by putting their own chosen man at the helm of affairs in the party. They were surprised at the resistance they received from within the BJP leadership, including from the younger ones. Very few among the leaders were willing to let the BJP slide to the position of being a mere outcrop of Nagpur. There was a rearguard action to preserve the autonomy of the BJP that had been achieved when the party was in government. But there was no unanimity about a successor to Mr Advani. Each of the younger leaders saw himself or herself as a candidate and the spectre of factionalism did serious harm to the image of the party. The name of Mr Rajnath Singh was the one that was least disputed. This is not the ideal solution to the crisis of leadership.

The pathetic plight of Mr Singh was indicated by Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who described the meeting of the national executive as the investiture ceremony of Mr Advani and Mr Pramod Mahajan. He did this in his characteristic way by alluding to the avishek of Ram and Lakshman. Most people interpreted this to mean that Mr Singh was only carrying out a holding operation on behalf of the real power figures, Messrs Advani and Mahajan. This is not an auspicious beginning for an incoming president. Mr Singh faces the challenge of completing the transition of the BJP from a party of ideology to a party of office. Without trust and support and with the shadow of impermanence over him, Mr Singh might well find the presidentship to be more trouble than he ever bargained for. He holds a chalice without knowing if it contains poison or ambrosia.