Narendra Modi with LK Advani at a meeting in Gujarat’s Bharuch in 2011

New Delhi, June 10: Eleven years ago, L.K. Advani had faced the national media to assert his party’s right to decide which post Narendra Modi should or should not hold.

The declaration had followed two days of dramatic events that involved not just the same two personalities as now but also the occasion and venue: a national executive conclave at Goa’s Hotel Marriott.

What seems to have changed is Advani’s opinion: he has now resigned his party posts in protest a day after the BJP anointed Modi as the spearhead of its campaign for next year’s general election.

On April 12, 2002, though, Advani was referring to key BJP ally Telugu Desam’s demand that Modi be sacked as Gujarat chief minister because of the violence against Muslims weeks earlier.

“I don’t decide other parties’ chief ministers,” he said. “They (the allies) have the right to say things about the Centre, but Gujarat belongs to the BJP (alone). The BJP has the right to choose its own chief minister.”

Advani was speaking after scripting a collective thumbs-up for Modi in the party at a time word had been out that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee wanted to replace the Gujarat chief minister.

Today, Advani’s resignation letter did not name Modi or cite his elevation as the trigger: instead, it hinted at a shift from the party’s original ideals and at leaders following “personal agendas”.

In his 2002 statement, too, he had emphasised the BJP’s ideological moorings, saying the party should not be apologetic about them.

He had cited his own example to illustrate that it was possible to balance one’s ideological commitments with the responsibilities of governance.

“I had to testify before the Liberhan Commission (probing the Babri demolition). I reiterated all my beliefs there. But as long as I am in the government, I will subscribe to the NDA’s agenda,” he said.

On April 10, the day before the 2002 Goa conclave was to start, the Desam had demanded Modi’s ouster. Vajpayee was on his way back to New Delhi after a visit to Singapore and Cambodia. He told the media on board his aircraft that he would consult his colleagues before taking a decision.

By late evening, the word from the Prime Minister’s Office was that Modi was being booted out and his predecessor Keshubhai Patel, removed for alleged incompetence shortly after the January 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, would be back.

But by then, Advani had completed several rounds of talks with BJP colleagues such as Arun Jaitley, then party president K. Jana Krishnamurthy, Sushma Swaraj and Vajpayee’s closest political aide Pramod Mahajan.

On April 11, journalists who happened to be on the same aircraft as Krishnamurthy and Murli Manohar Joshi were ticked off when they asked if Modi was being pushed out. The question did not arise, the leaders said.

The last act of the drama unfolded the next day. Vajpayee and Advani were in the conference hall. Modi sat beside friend Jaitley, with whom he had flown in from Gandhinagar and who had briefed him about the move to replace him.

Modi offered to resign. Vajpayee reportedly looked on impassively until Jaitley, backed by Mahajan, rejected the offer.

Vajpayee, stunned by Mahajan’s support for Modi, stood isolated as the entire gathering clapped and cheered for the chief minister — just as they would applaud his elevation yesterday.

The question everyone in the BJP is asking is: Does Advani now rue his move 11 years ago?