Refresh@10 - VI

THE flow of time can leave the past unrecognizable. The same Modi who left rally dais at Vadodara in a huff as Vajpayee began speaking, would in Lucknow dash and dart for an opportunity just to get the stalwart’s eye. This must have been mid 1990’s. According to a senior hanger on in the Lucknow BJP, a bunch of whom I interacted with during recent Assembly verdict (March 2012), Modi would find out where Vajpayee was headed or stationed and then reach that place just to get his face registered with the old man. Mid-1990s was the exact time of Vajpayee’s ascendance in the BJP and across the country, just ahead of his premiership. Just a nod of the aging war horse was enough to change careers in the party. The ever ambitious Modi already on a Vanvaas from Gujarat knew all the difference it could make. Advani was still in the shadow of Hawala. There was no Modi clique in Delhi at that time like it was in 2002 led by Jaitley. Modi himself was a mere General Secretary.

Refresh @10 - V

THIS must have been immediately after the BJP Mumbai national executive where Vajpayee almost got Modi removed before buckling to combined might of the Advani camp in the party. It was 2002 Gujarat Assembly elections end of the year. Relations between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi were frosty. Vajpayee attended just two rallies – at Vadodara and Jamnagar – in support of Modi. As Vajpayee began speaking at Vadodara, little wobbly, Modi got up from his chair to leave. As the PM looked on, Modi blabbered something like he would reach Jamnagar ahead of him for a welcome. This was clearest sign of frostiness in the relationship. Modi did not even wish to travel with the PM in the same aircraft. More importantly, he was confident he would get away with it. Vajpayee began by saying that he was there to advocate for Modi. Devil’s Advocate was an expected headline, quipped one Delhi journo. It came as – PM means Praise Modi. Modi of course cared little.