Editorial: Patriarch of paradoxes

Conferring Bharat Ratna to Advani is expected to silence criticism that Modi ignored his contribution in realising the temple dream

For Lal Krishan Advani, the original ‘Hindu Hruday Samrat’ responsible for the rise of the BJP on the crest of Ram temple movement, the highest civilian honour is a crowning moment not just in the conventional sense of celebration but also as a more sobering reflection on the complexities of a long and chequered political journey. The legacy that the BJP patriarch represents is complex, multi-layered and open to diverse interpretations; many adore him for being the original charioteer who paved the way for cultural awakening among Hindus, blending religion with nationalism, while others hold him responsible for polarisation and communal violence in the aftermath of the demolition of Babri Masjid. At 96, the rumination over the significance of this moment of glory —conferment of Bharat Ratna — must unveil the vignettes of his life in all its shades and ironies. There could have been no bigger irony than the way he was kept out of the celebrations surrounding the recent consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya, a culmination of the movement he had spearheaded more than three decades ago. However glorious his achievements may have been in a career spanning nearly seven decades, both in the organisation and in the government, there were moments in Advani’s political life that highlight the inherent paradoxes: Despite being the face of the party for decades and a natural choice to lead it in the 2014 elections, he lost the internal leadership race to a more charismatic Narendra Modi who represented an aggressive brand of Hindutva politics.

Again, in 2017, the road to Rashtrapati Bhavan was closed for him as the Supreme Court restored criminal conspiracy charges against him and other senior BJP leaders in the Babri demolition case. This meant a virtual denouement of Advani’s political career as he could not be considered for the highest constitutional post while facing a criminal case. He was later made a member of the ‘Margadarshak Mandal’, a destination where political ambitions of party veterans convalesce into collective nostalgia. Earlier, in 2005, he was forced to step down as the party president following political furore over his praise for Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Pakistan. The timing of conferring Bharat Ratna to Advani, close on the heels of Ram temple inauguration, is quite significant. It is a calculated strategy to mollify millions of believers who strongly feel that Advani was not given his due despite being a pioneer of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. Undoubtedly, it was Advani’s Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya that laid the foundation for BJP’s resurgence in the 1990s, particularly in the Hindi heartland, against former Prime Minister VP Singh’s Mandal politics. Advani’s absence at the temple consecration sent wrong signals to a section of party supporters. Conferring the country’s highest civilian honour is expected to silence the criticism that Modi has ignored Advani’s contribution in realising the temple dream.