Nilofar Suhrawardy, Arab News
NEW DELHI, 10 June 2005 — The rumblings in the Bharatiya Janata Party, caught in a crisis over L.K. Advani’s refusal to reconsider his resignation, continued with senior party leaders engaged yesterday in trying to find a way to pacify him and bring an end to the crisis.
Advani apparently was not pleased with the one-line resolution passed by BJP on Wednesday evening, asking him to reconsider his resignation. The resolution did not mention his Pakistan visit.
The BJP leaders said they would be meeting today in the evening. They were earlier scheduled to meet yesterday evening. While announcing postponement of yesterday’s meeting, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj did not give any reason.
Party sources, however, revealed that the meeting was postponed to gain more time for working out a compromise formula. According to BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Jaswant Singh had also expressed his desire to attend BJP’s crucial meeting. Jaswant will be returning from Israel today.
BJP leaders worked yesterday on a face-saving formula that would please Advani and also the hard-liners who had taken offense to his comments on Muhammed Ali Jinnah and Babri Masjid made during his Pakistan-trip.
The fresh resolution seeks to strike a balance between “Advani’s hurt feelings and popular sentiments,” party sources said. The new resolution focuses on Advani’s visit to Pakistan without defending Jinnah’s secular credentials. Hailing Advani’s Pakistan visit as a political and diplomatic success, the revised resolution also asks people to see his remarks on Jinnah in its entire context.
Meanwhile, interested in blocking Advani’s return as the party chief, the Rashtriya Sewak Sangh (RSS) has rejected BJP’s revised resolution. The RSS wants Advani to retract his controversial statement, which he is not willing to even consider.
The two strongly divergent views circulating in Delhi’s political circles are on whether Advani would withdraw his resignation or not.
One group claims that prospects of Advani reconsidering his resignation are nonexistent. According to this group, the revised resolution praising his Pakistan-visit is aimed at setting the stage for Advani’s “face-saving” exit from the party’s presidentship. This section views that the BJP cannot afford to alienate the Sangh Parivar by pacifying Advani and ignoring his comments on Jinnah.
Several senior party leaders are however confident that the revised resolution would move Advani to withdraw his resignation. “He is an emotional person and he will not orphan us,” a close associate said. “The redrafted resolution at best is aimed at soothing his hurt sentiments so that he continues to guide the party,” party sources said.
There is also an opinion that sooner or later, Advani is bound to reconsider his decision, as the resignation-drama is nothing but a well-calculated strategy to keep BJP in the limelight.
This stand is supported by Advani having handed in his resignation on Tuesday only to Sanjay Joshi, RSS pointman in BJP. He has not resigned from the party and has not relinquished his position as leader of the opposition in the Parliament.
He has deliberately not taken these steps, for he has only been playing for time observing the degree that this strategy helps in changing his image from a hard-liner to that of a secular person.
With an eye on Bihar assembly elections, apparently, Advani regarded this “change” as essential.
Senior party leaders, led by Venkaiah Naidu showed Advani the revised resolution yesterday. Naidu was accompanied by party general secretaries Sanjay Joshi and Pramod Mahajan.
Among others who called on Advani to persuade him to withdraw his resignation were Uma Bharati, Naqvi and Navjot Singh Siddhu.
Meanwhile, Advani’s resignation has triggered a new debate in the country. There is a section that holds Jinnah as a “secular.” Crediting Jinnah for his role in the freedom struggle, this section blames the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru for partition of the country.
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