Shaken by the Modi juggernaut, BJP stalwarts may be scrambling to stay alive in the party but one from the old guard says it’s time they accepted “there is a new order. because when you aim for power, change is inevitable, natural. and those who are taking charge of the party are the very people you promoted, created”. Lalji Tandon, the sitting MP from Lucknow who still pines for “my mentor, my brother, my friend” Atal Bihari Vajpayee, lives next door to the state BJP office, the very office that has denied him a ticket and asked him to make way for Rajnath Singh. “The Vajpayee years were a golden period for the party and the country,” says Tandon, who will be 79 next month. “Atalji is no longer active, so all this talk of the end of the Atal-Advani phase is meaningless. Advani is still a tall leader, supreme. but a new leadership emerges with time and that’s the truth, we must accept it,” he tells The Indian Express. “Nobody can undermine Advani, (Murli Manohar) Joshi. Those who are taking charge of the party are the very people you promoted, created. Can you expect them to insult others?. I believe if a decision on Varanasi had been taken at the right time, Joshi hat nahin karte (wouldn’t have thrown a tantrum). If he had been told that Modi was going to contest from Varanasi, he would have vacated that seat. Has he not? He has moved to Kanpur.” Tandon believes Jaswant Singh’s rebellion is a blunder. “In a democratic party, everyone must have the right to speak his mind. But to cut off all ties with the party means erasing all the good work you have done these so many years. You can’t question his capability, experience, personality. but this is not the way (to part). If Modi comes to power, no one should assume he or she will be given something simply because he or she is senior. It’s not for anyone to offer. There is no denying Modi’s rise. He has emerged as a beacon of hope. everyone believes he will change policies, bring in development. This should work to the BJP’s advantage.” On opposition within to the induction of certain leaders into the BJP fold, Tandon agrees that “compromises” are made. “In the quest for power, basic ideology does get compromised at some point or the other. That happens especially when you have to run a coalition. But since we say we are a party with a difference, we must ensure, to the extent possible, that good people join us. Atalji showed the country how a coalition can be run successfully.” Tandon says he agreed to make way for Rajnath “once the party decided”. A former state minister who was elected an MLA thrice and served two terms in the Vidhan Parishad, he is not ready to contest any other LS seat. “No one has done for Lucknow as much as I have. How can you expect me to go anywhere else? I am the guardian of this city.”
