Advani, Rajnath: Clash cloud

New Delhi, March 31: A chain of seemingly minor issues has driven a wedge between the BJP’s Prime Minister-in-waiting and its president, casting a shadow on efforts to dust the party’s poll machine.

BJP sources said ties between L.K. Advani and Rajnath Singh came under strain when the party president overrode Advani’s wish and set up a jumbo election management committee last month. The 19-member committee was put in place of a core group functioning out of Advani’s residence.

Advani later chose to snub Rajnath by denying him a seat on the dais for the release of My Country My Life, the autobiography that has landed the BJP veteran in hot water for its references to the Kandahar hijack. Advani did not even name Rajnath in his speech.

If the two incidents strengthened the undercurrent of discord, an open conflict occurred the very next day when a meeting got over at the party headquarters before Rajnath could arrive.

The sources said Rajnath was returning from Baitul in Madhya Pradesh when the meeting took place. His flight got delayed but he informed the leaders after landing in Delhi that he would reach the headquarters in 20 minutes.

Advani, however, asked the leaders to disperse before Rajnath reached, the sources claimed. Seniors like Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley had left when Rajnath came in.

An upset Rajnath apparently told those present that such mischief was happening only because the party president was not asserting his authority. Rajnath’s demonstration of anger was reported to Advani but no effort was made to pacify the party boss.

In the following days, Advani went on to declare Narendra Modi his successor in an interview.

The Rajnath camp was rattled as it saw this as a departure from the style of functioning of Advani, who had shown an inclination to take everybody along ever since he became the prime ministerial candidate.

In the selection of candidates to the Rajya Sabha, Rajnath respected Advani’s views that Balbir Punj should be accommodated but a reciprocal understanding was not shown when the party president pressed for Shatrughan Sinha.

But some senior leaders feel that though Advani might not have shown the determination to rise above factional politics and behave like a “father figure” to all, Rajnath, too, did not move cautiously enough.

Rajnath wasn’t prepared to swim with the tide and often asserted his authority, probably in his desperation to cement his position as number two in the party. He has not been very responsive to the ideas floated by Advani loyalists either, a leader said.

The sources said the inauguration of a war room for the coming elections at Ananth Kumar’s residence has been delayed because Rajnath hasn’t shown much enthusiasm. He delayed announcement of those in charge of poll-bound states and Sushma Swaraj, who was supposed to look after Madhya Pradesh, got so peeved that she declined to accept the responsibility which was later given to Venkaiah Naidu.

Most worrisome for Rajnath is the RSS’s unhappiness with his decision to nominate Prabhat Jha, the BJP secretary attached to the party president, to the Rajya Sabha. Rajnath took the decision to please Suresh Soni, who liaises between the RSS and the BJP, ignoring the wishes of other Sangh veterans.

Many similar factors, including the machinations of Rajnath’s detractors, appear to have come between him and Advani.

While a section of BJP leaders is delighted, others are worried that the disunity at the top might affect electoral prospects.