Advani

New Delhi, Jan. 9: An angry old man on a chariot, flanked by firebrand sadhvis and railing at pseudo-secularists — if that’s the image of L.K. Advani etched on your mind, please upload a new one.

The octogenarian but “young-at-heart” BJP leader has taken a leaf out of the book — er, page out of the blog — of teens and 20-somethings. He has started blogging.

Advani, keen to reach out to Young India in probably the most crucial year of his political life, posted his first blog on his website, www.lkadvani.in, on Wednesday. He followed it up with a second today.

“Welcome, friends, to my blog,” his first post reads, revealing that the younger colleagues who created the site told him a political portal without a blog was like a letter minus a signature. “I quickly accepted this compelling logic.”

Advani doesn’t say if he was inspired by the way Barack Obama used the Internet to defeat the older John McCain. But his move is timely.

His first blog came a day before Canada’s youngest MP Ruby Dhalla, 34, injected the old-young debate into Indian politics by pointedly asking senior leaders: “Where are the young people?”

“I am excited by the idea of using the Internet as a platform for political communication and, especially, for election campaign,” Advani wrote.

He boasted that he embraced every new communication technology, from the Casio digital diary to the iPod and the iPhone. “I am technology-agnostic. My philosophy in this matter is simple: anything that works, deserves to be welcomed.”

The first post had received 23 comments by this evening, one of them suggesting Advani start an account with Facebook or Orkut. The depth of young India’s interest may be too early to judge, but only one of the comments addressed him as “u”.

Today’s post is mainly on his association with the late Swami Ranganathananda of the Rama Krishna Mission, and provides a nugget about an earlier image makeover bid.

Advani says his controversial remarks about Mohammed Ali Jinnah in 2005 may have been influenced “in a subconscious way” by the Swami’s praise of the Qaid-e-Azam’s speech in the Constituent Assembly as “the true exposition of the meaning of secularism”.

Advani’s portal asks readers to wait for his message on National Youth Day, January 12, the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. It showcases his blueprint for improving the education system.

It also displays a poem by Chilean Nobel laureate Gabriela Mistral as proof of Advani’s love and concern for children.

The BJP, aware that Advani’s age would be bandied about as a minus during the general election campaign, had summoned its spokespersons from across the country this week.

Advani confidant Sudheendra Kulkarni told them to stress the shadow Prime Minister’s experience, vision and ability to identify with the youth’s aspirations.

Kulkarni dwelt on Advani’s excellent health, stamina and ability to solve puzzles quicker than teenagers.

Anecdotes about the chariot ride? Forget it.