New Delhi, August 5
Amid speculation that all is not well between him and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, senior BJP leader L K Advani today caused ripples in political circles by stating that a non-Congress, non-BJP Prime Minister supported by one of these two principal parties was ‘feasible’ after the next Lok Sabha elections.

In his latest blog posting, he also observed that the shape which national polity has acquired in the past two-and-a-half decades had made it practically impossible for any government to be formed in New Delhi which does not have the support either of the Congress or the BJP. A ‘Third Front’ government, therefore, could be ruled out, he added.

“A non-Congress, non-BJP PM heading a government supported by one of these two principal parties is, however, feasible. This has happened in the past also,’’ Advani said.

However, such a government might not last long, he said, citing the examples of the governments led by Charan Singh, Chandrashekhar, H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral which were supported by the Congress and the one headed by Vishwanath Pratap Singh which was supported by his own party.

“There has been stability at the Centre only when the government has had either a Congress or a BJP PM,’’ said the top BJP leader on a day when reports in the media suggested that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had asked BJP President Nitin Gadkari not to project Modi as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate.

Even within the BJP, there is a stiff opposition to Modi’s projection as the party’s mascot, ignoring the claims of other top leaders, including Advani. The sense in the BJP is that Modi might shift to the Centre if he leads the party again to victory in the Gujarat Assembly poll later this year and project himself as its tallest leader.

Talking about the Congress party in his blog, Advani said people generally believe that the post-Emergency election of 1977 was the worst phase for the party in so far as the Lok Sabha results were concerned. “It would not at all be surprising if the next Lok Sabha elections yield a result which for the Congress may prove the worst in its history since 1952.’’

So far as the BJP was concerned, the ‘bungling’ in Karnataka notwithstanding, all public opinion surveys clearly revealed that the principal beneficiary of the Congress party’s ‘fast eroding reputation’ continued to be the BJP, he claimed.

Advani charged the UPA government with failing to take along its own allies. “The UPA II has had one aide, however, who may not be a political one but who has been so invaluable for it to manage these difficult allies that I have often described it as the Congress party’s most dependable ally. If the Congress has successfully avoided a Lok Sabha poll till now, it is only because of this alliance partner-the CBI!’’