"I do not say that the political leadership is not mature. But because of the shortcomings, I don't have the confidence that it cannot happen again. I do not see any sign in our polity that assures me of any outstanding aspects of leadership. A commitment to democracy and to all other aspects related to democracy is lacking."
This is the assessment offered by BJP veteran
LK Advani to The Indian Express in an interview on the 40th anniversary of the Emergency.
For those who have read the interview, it is not very difficult to infer that the remarks are an indirect indictment of the Modi government, and similar to the
sentiments expressed recently by another senior leader Arun Shourie.
The scathing comment by BJP patriarch Advani comes at a time when his protege Sushma Swaraj is embroiled in a damaging controversy vis-a-vis her relationship with corruption-tainted cricket honcho Lalit Modi.
In an earlier
ndtv.com column this week, this author had written about apprehensions expressed by the Sushma Swaraj camp that the troika of Narendra Modi, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah could have played a role in facilitating the media leak of the story which took the country by storm this Sunday.
Sushma had expressed her apprehension to the RSS about this being a conspiracy to further stifle her voice in the party and silence her rebellion over PM Modi shadow-running her ministry, leaving her with very little to do as Foreign Minister. In fact, those in the Sushma camp have told this reporter that she very recently complained to LK Advani and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat that the Modi cabinet is running on the lines of the Gujarat Model, where Modi remote-controlled every ministry.
It can be safely assumed that Advani's interview was an attempt to come out in support of his protege who he suspected was being made a scapegoat in a conyroversy which involved other BJP who have been a part of administrating cricket in India.
Another twist in "Lalitgate" came mid-week with the revelation by Lalit Modi that Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje , friend-turned-foe, had supported his request for UK citizenship. It is being widely speculated that this claim was orchestrated to deflect attention from Sushma Swaraj whose more -than-amiable relationship with Lalit Modi has landed her in trouble.
Vasundhara Raje has been increasingly in the line of fire of the RSS which, according to sources, disapproves of her style of governance and arguably lavish lifestyle. She has found herself a lone ranger in this battle with the document furnished by her for Lalit Modi and his financial assistance to a company owned by her son now squatting centrestage.
Most BJP leaders have been warned against defending Vasundhara Raje. Reports also emerged that party president Amit Shah had refused to grant her a meeting in Delhi (her office said this is not true).
While the charges against Vasundhara are very serious and potentially jeopardize her career , it is more than obvious that she has become collateral damage in the war between the two factions in the BJP.
The Congress plans to stall the functioning of the monsoon session of parliament by seeking the resignations of Sushma and Vasundhara. The way things stand today in the BJP, and according to the reported directives of the RSS , Sushma Swaraj stands safe. Which means that if there was an attempt to oust her by her rivals, the move has clearly backfired.
In the year March 2011, when Sushma Swaraj was the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, she hit out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the cash-for-vote scam using a powerful Urdu couplet "Tu idhar udhar ki na baat kar, ye bata ki kaafila kyun luta. Hamein rahjanon se gila nahi teri rehbari ka sawaal hai " (do not talk about this and that, tell us why the caravan was looted; we have no complaint with the passers-by, it is a question of your leadership).
Little did Sushma realise that the couplet would come back to haunt her and her PM just years later. Perhaps this is what they call poetic justice.
(Rana Ayyub is an award-winning investigative journalist and political writer. She is working on a book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which will be published later this year.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.