Clear cracks in BJP

The controversy broke out with BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu giving a joint billing to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Deputy L K Advani to lead the party in next year's parliamentary elections.

What gave gist to the controversy was Naidu's declaration on June 2 that the decision to project Vajpayee and Advani at par as leaders was taken at a meeting senior office bearers of BJP at a recent meeting in the southern city of Hyderabad.

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A new dimension was added to the controversy when Vajpayee on June 3 virtually suggested that it would be Advani who would be leading the party to victory in next general elections.

Vajpayee's remark, made at a gathering of party workers at his official residence, was a master stroke in re-asserting his supremacy in BJP, a stroke only the quintessential politician like him can play.

Sources in BJP say Vajpayee's remark that Advani would be leading the party to victory in next general elections was his characteristic way of giving vent to his displeasure to inject factionalism at the top hierarchy of BJP.

Naidu's announcement in Hyderabad has caused as much flutter as Vajpayee's own statement about Advani leading BJP to win in next elections.

In a single deft stroke, however, the Prime Minister converted a perceived challenge to his leadership into an occasion for demonstrating once again that he is undisputed leader not only of the party but also of a rainbow coalition and the government.

Naidu was clearly rattled by Vajpayee's remark. The BJP President not only went into a retreat mode from his formulation of joint leadership of Vajpayee and Advani but switched into an exercise of propitiating the former.

He hailed Vajpayee as the undisputed number one leader and proclaimed Advani as number two

Besides, the Indian cabinet, all constituents of the alliance BJP is heading and the RSS, the ideological fountainhead of BJP, rallied firmly behind Vajpayee as the unquestioned leader.

The RSS stand was of particular significance in the light of popular perception that Advani is considered closer to RSS.