Cold shadow over BJP’s show of unity

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BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and senior leader L.K. Advani at the party’s “Karyakarta Mahakumbh” in Bhopal

The relationship between Gujarat chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and senior party leader L.K. Advani continues to be strained and this was palpable when the two leaders shared the dais at the massive BJP workers rally in the state capital on Wednesday.
At the commencement of the BJP workers’ rally, when it was time to greet the national BJP leaders present on the dais with garlands and bouquet, Mr Advani was seen responding with full warmth as Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan bent, touched his feet and took his blessings. Mr Modi, who was flanking Mr Advani on the right, took some time before he too decided to touch his feet but the senior party leader chose to ignore the gesture and kept looking the other way. As the rally progressed and the leaders kept delivering their speeches, both Mr Advani and Mr Modi, who were seated on either side of BJP president Rajnath Singh, maintained a stoic silence and had nothing to exchange.
In his speech, BJP president Rajnath Singh described Mr Modi as the most popular leader in the country and said that no power can stop him from victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Mr Advani took a different line. He spoke of the tallest Jan Sangh leader and ideological guide of BJP, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, and BJP’s progress, including the formation of the previous NDA government at the Centre led by Atal Behari Vajpayee and also governments in several states, formed either by the BJP on its own strength or by the BJP-NDA alliance. He said that no party can defeat the BJP or the BJP-NDA alliancebut the victory would come on the basis BJP’s track record and not just speeches. At one point, Mr Adavani praised Mr Modi along with Mr Chouhan and Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh in the same breath and gave them credit for ensuring round the clock power supply to villagers in their respective states.
Mr Advani arrived here by a special aircraft along with other top BJP leaders from New Delhi. While the others left for the venue by different helicopters, Mr Advani, after consulting the state chief minister, chose to wait in the VIP lounge at the state hanger for Mr Modi, who arrived after about half-an-hour by another aircraft provided by the Adani Group. Mr Advani and Mr Modi then took off in the same helicopter to reach the rally ground.