Two days before the twin raths are set to roll out, the BJP is once again on a damage-control mode. The party is going all out to contain its yatras from being scorched – not from the summer heat or the terror threat but from the ?damaging perception? that former prime minister AB Vajpayee was ?against? the initiative.
In an effort to douse any speculation of a rift between the two top leaders, the party on Tuesday announced that Mr Vajpayee would ?bless? the Bharat Suraksha yatra and see off the ?yatris? LK Advani and Rajnath Singh from his Krishna Menon Marg residence on Wednesday.
Later in the evening, Mr Vajpayee?s office also issued a statement dismissing as ?baseless? a news report about the ?speculations of conversations? between Mr Advani and Mr Vajpayee on the yatra. ?I wish all success to the two Bharat Suraksha rath yatras undertaken by LK Advani and Rajnath Singh,? the former prime minister said.
While it is hardly a secret in political circles that Mr Advani, ?on his own? had announced the yatras in the wake of the Varanasi blasts without consulting even the party president Rajnath Singh who was apparently ?told about it? over phone, now it is seen that even Mr Vajpayee was kept in the dark.
Interestingly, there was hardly any passing reference to the former prime minister during the press meets on the yatras and even his portrait that is present in all party literature was conspicuous by its absence in the route-map of the yatras given to the scribes.
Only photos of the ?yatris?, Mr Advani and Mr Singh, adorned the route-maps, with the party chief?s image kerned relatively smaller – giving credence to the theory that Mr Singh?s yatra was being given ?lesser prominence?.
However, Mr Vajpayee?s photo was later ?inserted? on the back of the booklet on the yatras released on Tuesday after the joint press conference addressed by Mr Singh and Mr Advani. This, sources indicate was a result of the various reports stating that the former premier had conveyed to both Mr Advani and Mr Singh about the ?futility? of the yatras, something denied by Mr Vajpayee?s office.
Though the political acumen of a seasoned Vajpayee may nuetralise any possible efforts to ?belittle? him, the fact remains that Rajnath Singh?s photo has further become smaller in the new route-map of the yatras.
