B.J.P. Patriarch Relinquishes Party Posts After Modi’s Promotion

Amit Dave/Reuters Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, right, and L.K. Advani, left, greeting supporters in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on Dec. 25, 2007.

NEW DELHIâ€" One day after Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat state, was chosen to lead the Bharatiya Janata Party into the next general election, his main rival, L.K. Advani, resigned from his party leadership positions, a move that cracked open the deep fissures within India’s main opposition party.

In a letter released to the Indian news media on Monday, Mr. Advani expressed disillusionment with the party that once promoted him as a candidate for prime minister. “For some time, I have been finding it difficult either with the current functioning of the party or the direction in which the party is going,” he wrote, adding that the idealism of past leaders was now absent.
“Most leaders of ours are now concerned just with their personal agendas,” he added.

It was an obvious swipe at Mr. Modi - yet it also underscored how Mr. Modi had finally triumphed in pushing Mr. Advani aside.

National elections are expected in 2014, and many political analysts have framed the race as a two-man showdown between Mr. Modi and Rahul Gandhi, of the Indian National Congress party. It is not that simple, given India’s parliamentary system of democracy, and given the deliberately vague stance taken by Mr. Gandhi about his own political ambitions. Yet both men are expected to be the chief campaigners for their respective parties.

Mr. Modi is one of India’s most polarizing politicians. His critics have lacerated him for his handling of the bloody 2002 riots in Gujarat and have questioned his commitment to a secular India. His supporters, including many business leaders, have praised his management skills and credited him for the rapid progress of Gujarat, where economic growth has outpaced the national average.

Mr. Advani, 85, has dominated the B.J.P. for many years and had not yet given up his own prime ministerial ambitions. But it had become increasingly clear that Mr. Advani was becoming isolated within his own party. His allies were said to be pressuring B.J.P. president Rajnath Singh to resist any major moves, even as many party workers wanted to elevate Mr. Modi, 63, as the party’s public face.

Mr. Advani retains his position as head of the National Democratic Alliance opposition coalition, according to Indian media.

That final step was taken on Sunday. With much fanfare, party leaders gathered in Goa to announce that Mr. Modi would lead the party’s national campaigns in 2014.

“I have taken this decision in the best interest of the country,” Mr. Singh said, according to The Indian Express. “I did not hesitate a bit before making this announcement. Justice demanded this decision. I have presented a strong leadership for you.”

Mr. Advani had skipped the Goa meeting, remaining at his home in New Delhi.

Now the question is whether Mr. Modi - if probably the most popular politician among B.J.P. party workers - can also help lift the BJP nationally. Or, as Congress party leaders insist, whether his controversial past will alienate voters and doom his party.