RSS chief sets off succession issue in BJP

LIKE most political parties, the BJP has a penchant for creating optics and staging big-play histrionics that often cloak the serious undertones of the issues at stake. One such issue was the search for a successor to the post of national president. As long as the office was held by Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1980-86) and LK Advani (1986-91), there was relative stability because the BJP was just a speck on a Congress-dominated political landscape. Post 1991, an era of growth, expansion and power was ushered in with Advani replacing Vajpayee. Advani towered over the party but his reign was often marred by internal struggles, instigated by the RSS, the pater familias, that forced the appointments of other chiefs like Murli Manohar Joshi, Kushabhau Thakre and Rajnath Singh.