With the BJP having come up with its candidates list in part, the heat at the hustings has risen but marginally. There are no major surprises, while attention is concentrated on the “grabbing” of the Gandhinagar seat by party chief Amit Shah from veteran L.K. Advani. The 91-year-old may still be in some form, but this is no age for him to practise politics or engage in public activities.
The veteran leader who played a major role in crafting a strong national party in the saffron shade as an alternative to the grand old party was a phenomenal success as a politician but stopped short of becoming Prime Minister. This may or may not have something to do with perceived RSS game-plans, which saw a Narendra Modi coming from behind and placing himself at the centre of national politics. Past the Goa conclave that brought Modi centre-stage, LK Advani was no longer his normal self. His praise of Pakistan’s founder leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah during a visit there came as the right opportunity for the RSS to neutralize Advani.
Another leader who has been denied the party ticket in the first round is Murli Manohar Joshi, the learned professor from Uttar Pradesh who too is now on the wrong side of his age. The 85-year-old had made minor waves in the past and is still seen as a prominent Brahmin face for the party. He too has been relegated to the Margdarshak Mandal brought into being by Modi after he took power in Delhi, and he can now only sit back and brood over his past. As long as PM Modi retains his hold over the party, Joshi would remain in oblivion as is very obvious.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will re-enter the fray from Varanasi, and it is unclear whether he will also contest from another constituency too as he did from Gujarat last time. Roads minister Nitin Gadkari, who still has fire in his belly, has been re-fielded by the party from his home turf of Nagpur. Veteran home minister Rajnath Singh will be fielded from his pocket borough of Lucknow. He is one person who managed his ministry well. Smriti Irani can be trusted to give some uncomfortable moments to Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.
Yet, overall, it is premature to say who all will be axed by the BJP this time, as more names are in the reckoning. To some comfort for his rivals in the party, PM Modi has lost that old magic and will have to tread a careful course.