When Advani Admitted that India Shining Campaign Was a ‘Mistake’

Advani discussed at length his future cabinet, running through the names he was considering, writes Ruchir Sharma.

(The following has been excerpted with permission from Ruchir Sharma’s book 'Democracy on the Road' published by Penguin Random House.)

Govindacharya had also turned on Advani, who was now the likely BJP prime ministerial candidate in the 2009 general elections. Advani had long since softened his tone on Muslims, even lavishing praise on the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, on a 2005 visit to Islamabad.

This shift towards the tolerant Centre appalled Govindacharya, who told us that Advani was trading the politics of ‘conviction’ for ‘convenience’, and that he symbolised the lack of talent in BJP ranks. He even claimed that Modi was not treating Hindus respectfully, saying that the Gujarat chief minister had demolished not only mosques but also Hindu temples to make room for new roads.

From these conversations on the conservative fringe we moved on to MP’s most populous city, Indore, whose residents seemed immersed in local rivalry with Bhopal, saying their food was better, their water superior and their universities more impressive.

Sometimes called ‘mini-Mumbai’ for its strong business culture, we had a choice of nice hotels and, as luck would have it, booked the same one as Advani, the Landmark Fortune.

‘Anything But Fearsome Idealogue’

We dined with Advani that night, and found him anything but the fearsome ideologue. At eighty-one, he came across as a friendly and personable family man—he was travelling with his daughter Pratibha.

Tall and thin, he was remarkably fit compared to most Delhi-based politicians, who have been known to celebrate victories by stuffing each other’s mouths with ladoos.

‘How come you still have such a radiant face?’ asked Simran, inspiring a brief talk from Advani on the benefits of long walks every morning, milk every night, and a vegetarian, oil-free diet—home-cooked whenever possible.

This night out, he ordered nothing but warm milk and kesar (saffron), the Kashmiri herb known for its medicinal qualities.

Far from playing the cocksure RSS-trained firebrand, Advani admitted that in 2004 he and the party had made a crucial mistake by campaigning under the ‘India Shining’ slogan, which opened them up to ridicule as grandees out of touch with the tens of millions of voters struggling just to get by.

He allowed, however, that during Manmohan Singh’s reign as prime minister, the Congress had exposed itself to a similar backlash, since newspapers were full of breathless reports of new millionaires and billionaires emerging from the economic boom – even as more Indians fell below the poverty line.

At the time, academics were vigorously debating whether the ranks of the impoverished were growing or shrinking, but Advani was clearly right about the popular perception that wealth was concentrating at the top.

The Growing Modi Challenge

We were left with the impression of an adept party organiser with surprising charm, remarkable personal discipline, and one big blind spot. Advani seemed certain that the growing backlash against Singh, and the culture of wealth and cronyism flourishing in Delhi and Mumbai, would propel him into the prime minister’s office soon.

He discussed at length his future cabinet, running through the names he was considering for posts like finance and defence.

We had seen Advani campaigning outside Indore, and couldn’t help thinking he was getting ahead of himself. His dry performance, in a voice as rasping and stern as when we first saw him back in 1998, reinforced our sense that he lacked the mass appeal of Vajpayee.

There was reason to wonder whether he could survive the growing challenge from another master public performer like Narendra Modi.

There was also the immediate obstacle at hand. Madhya Pradesh was one of four states, along with Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Rajasthan, going to the polls, and Advani seemed to assume that the BJP was poised to sweep all four, building momentum for the general elections in 2009.

The morning after our dinner with Advani we headed north into Rajasthan, which proved yet again how dramatically political players and issues change from state to state.