By IANS
New Delhi : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani’s dramatic visit to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s house is seen as a strategy to position himself as a moderate who can work even with his known political adversaries.
Having been virtually anointed as the numero uno in the party, Advani is broadening his role as the leader of main opposition party that also leads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), his associates say.
“He does not want to be seen any longer as a hardcore Hindutva leader. In politics no leader from any political party should be treated as persona non grata. It always pays to have a good relationship with the heads of different parties,” a senior BJP leader told IANS on the condition of anonymity.
The political leader spoke shortly after Advani and his wife drove down to Gandhi’s residence, for the first time, Saturday to personally hand over a copy of his book, “My Country, My Life”.
Interestingly, the autobiography talks about Gandhi’s foreign origin, and Advani accuses her of “active and irrefutable collusion in covering up the role of Italian Ottavio Quattrocchi in the infamous Bofors scandal”.
“As Advani has already stepped into the shoes of (former prime minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee for all practical purposes, he needs to enhance his political acceptability across the board. By reaching out to the different leaders, he stands to gain immensely,” the BJP source added.
Advani admirers admit that this is one area he fares poorly vis-à-vis Vajpayee, his long-time associate who is viewed as a moderate even while adhering to the same Hindu nationalist ideology.
Other BJP sources also said that Advani’s reaching out to Gandhi should be seen in a broader context.
“There were uneasy moments within the (BJP-led) NDA (National Democratic Alliance) over preferring Advani to Vajpayee on several matters,” a source said. “Now his acceptability in the NDA is established.”
But Advani realises that this is not enough. It is equally important for him to build bridges with those sections of the political establishment the BJP has traditionally opposed. This includes the Congress.
Advani, known as a Hindutva firebrand and for being severely critical of the Congress ideology, regretted publicly last week that he did not have a good working relationship with Gandhi. This, he said, affected his chemistry with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
But his peace moves have not in any way derailed his political assessment of his adversaries, the Congress included.
At the India Today Conclave 2008 here last week, Advani accused the Congress of reserving top party posts for the Nehru family and called Manmohan Singh a prime minister who has only “the title but no authority”.
Although there are no reactions from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), BJP sources said Advani had regained the confidence of RSS leaders.
He lost the RSS trust after his controversial remarks in Karachi in 2006 seen to be eulogising Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.
The BJP veteran says in his autobiography that he has no regrets over his Jinnah remark.