A pseudo-secularist like me can hardly be expected to endorse Mr Advani’s politics. Neither can I, like some other editors, claim to know him well. However, I do endeavour to read (after all, that is my job) what goes on in his mind. I must confess I am often clueless. Politicians are usually easy to fathom. Careerism, sycophancy, opportunism, an eye on the main chance invariably determine their actions and exertions. Happily, for those of us forced to earn our dal-roti by evaluating India’s political pashas, exceptions do exist. L.K. Advani is one of them. Vajpayee is another. There are not many others.
So, I am wondering what is going through Mr Advani’s mind these days. Is the "exoneration" really an exoneration? Even if the learned judge went entirely by the book, the let-off looks fishy, looks as if it has been craftily managed so that a single individual from the Gang of Eight is absolved. I refuse to believe this thought has not crossed Mr Advani’s mind, especially since he is the undisputed leader of those scheduled to stand before the judge on October 10 for criminal charges to be framed. If you ignore for a moment the potential for inner-party rift the Rae Bareli order encompasses (and that potential is huge), for Mr Advani, who sets such high standards for himself, the solitary exoneration looks bad. It leaves a foul smell. No one knows better than the deputy PM that in public life perception has more salience than truth.
In the circumstances, would it have been better for the DPM if he too had been charged? Perhaps, but I am a pseudo-secularist, so I must be biased!
