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Gujarat: Differing stands fuel fresh speculation about Vajpayee, Advani rift

Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani's announcement that Narendra Modi would be the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate in Gujarat may have come at an inopportune time for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is on an official overseas tour.

The latest round of shadow boxing between the two began about three weeks back when the prime minister said in New York that he wants to prevent the recurrence of any event that 'would forced the country's political leadership to bow its head in shame', a top BJP functionary said.

Vajpayee's remark was made in the context of the recent communal violence in Gujarat.

Immediately after that, Advani had praised Modi sky-high at a party meet and described the Gujarat Gaurav Yatra as the need of the hour, barely 48 hours after the prime minister's statement in New York.

Advani's statement does not uphold the spirit of that of the prime minister, he said.

It is statements like these which lend credence to theories of differences between the two. As expected, BJP spokesman Sunil Shastri denied any differences between the top two leaders of the party.

However, there is a growing perception in the party that Vajpayee is losing the battle with the hardliners, a BJP source told rediff.com.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad were anyways more comfortable with Advani and now important positions in the BJP are also held by loyalists of the deputy prime minister, including party president M Venkaiah Naidu and chief party spokesman Arun Jaitley.

The belief gaining ground is that Advani, not Vajpayee, would be leading the party during the next general elections.

Naidu has been saying that while the party would not press forth on any issue not figuring in the National Democratic Alliance agenda, party workers should aggressively project the BJP's political goals and strive for 300-plus Lok Sabha seats in the next election.

It is in this context that he welcomed the Tamil Nadu government's ordinance banning forcible conversions.

"It is good and desirable and we want all BJP governed states to follow suit," the BJP chief said.

Gujarat Elections 2002: The complete coverage

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