I remember that once L.K. Advani visited Nirod C Choudhury’s home in Oxford. Nirod C Choudhury was already above ninety then and a widower, stayed alone in his house. Advani with some people of his party (total ten or twelve nos.) visited him without prior appointment. All this I read in newspaper then. I also read that Nirod Choudhury was very much embarrassed as he was not ready to receive so many guests all of a sudden and more so when there was none with him at that time. I am telling this trivial incident to show that L.K. Advani lacks common sense. He has been projected as the next prime minister of India. I have nothing against him to decry this projection. But unfortunately L.K. Advani is not a shrewd and intelligent person. He is not even as patriotic as he and his party likes to have the people of India believe. Let us explain:
If Advani were a patriot he would have collaborated with Manmohan Singh to get the Indi-US Nuclear deal come through. He may enjoy seeing that the Congress –his opposition party, in serious troubles in retaining power in absence of left’s support. It’s natural. But it is not a question of pulling down the government; it is a question of saving India’s prestige. Moreover India stands to gain much from this nuclear deal. So the national interest is also involved here. Everybody in India knows that if BJP was in power it would move for the deal. Here lies the difference between Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani. Advani has failed to rise above petty party politics. The former US diplomat Strobe Talbot told on NDTV that Vajpayee Government was ready to settle for much less than what is being offered. According to him:
"The Clinton administration negotiated with the BJP-led government on the nuclear issue and that knowing what the goals of my Indian interlocutors at work at that time and seeing how those goals compare with the current Indian government has gotten out of President Bush by way of the civil nuclear deal, I can't understand how is that the BJP could oppose the deal as it obviously does." Vajpayee’s aide and former national security adviser Brajesh Mishra gave his “personal approval” to the nuclear deal, a view contrary to the BJP’s official line. This inspired Dr Manmohan Singh and he said- “I was happy to see that, responding to the call of conscience, he has openly supported the nuclear deal…Now I urge the Bhishma Pitamah of Indian politics, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to also listen to the call of his conscience and rise above narrow party interests to support the deal”. It is clear that Atal Bihari Vajpayee has full support for the deal. But alas! He has no say in the party now.
This could have been a historic moment for Advani if he moved in support of the deal. It is a great moment to cut the communists to size. If Advani were successful to thwart the ominous and pro-Chinese moves of the left-it would be BJP who would gain more than the Congress politically.
But unfortunately Advani is not a visionary.
