Advani's PM Ambition Taking Shape

Now it seems to be beyond doubt that the 83 year old BJP veteran LK Advani is still nurturing his ambition to become Prime Minister of India. It was clearly evident by the sudden announcement he made on Thursday that he would undertake yet another rath yatra across the country. His decision took party colleagues by surprise because the yatra would bring the focus back on him in a scenario where the BJP had resolved not to project anyone as its prime ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha elections in 2014.

BJP chief Nitin Gadkari had recently told in an interview that no individual leader would be projected as a prime ministerial candidate and that a collective team of top leaders would be showcased instead. But Advani seems to have other plans. "I have decided to take out a yatra against corruption. Its focus will be good governance and clean politics," Advani said at a press conference. He said he had spoken about his decision to Gadkari and other top party leaders, who had endorsed the move immediately.

Not only that, flanked at the press conference by Sushma Swaraj and Aurun Jaitley, leaders of the opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively, Advani even dared the government to arrest him in the Cash-for-vote scam. A few days ago, Advani minced no word in conveying to Gadkari and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at a key meeting in Ujjain that "the people rallied for a leader rather than a party." Later, the buzz was that the RSS intended to tell Advani he must not insist on projecting himself again as prime ministerial candidate and make way for younger leaders to try their luck. Putting all this together, a senior BJP leaders said "Advani's decision is a surprise move that shows he is very much in the race for prime ministership."