Spiritual gurus shore up Advani's quest for power

Mon, Jul 7 02:14 AM

The release of the Hindi version of BJP leader L K Advani's autobiography, My Country My Life, in Bhopal last week was noticed for the high-profile presence of spiritual gurus, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Swami Ramdev. While Sri Sri was scheduled to release the book, the presence of Ramdev came as a surprise. The gurus were profuse in their admiration for Advani and only stopped short of endorsing him for the prime ministerial position.

A day prior to the launch of the book, Advani had lambasted the Congress-led governments in Jammu and Kashmir and at the Centre for "succumbing to vote bank politics" on the issue of transfer of 40 acres of land to the Shri Amaranth Shrine Board. The spiritual gurus, too, expressed their displeasure at the rescinding of the Jammu and Kashmir Government's proposal to transfer the land to the Board.

While their enormous followings and acceptability across the board are obviously an attraction, this, however, is not the sole reason for Advani to be attracted towards these spiritual leaders. In one of his speeches in Singapore a few months ago, Advani had cited "India's growing soft power" while referring to spiritual gurus like Sri Sri and Mata Amritanandamayi. The active association with these "voices of reconciliation", say some within the party, may shore up Advani's soft power as well. As for the gurus' phenomenal reach - that often spans caste and even religious divides - it will only comes as a bonus.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why he is important for Advani

Sri Sri's following cuts across the political divide. Whether it is BJP's Narendra Modi or Congress's Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Art of Living (AoL) founder is a big draw with the politicians. When the Gurjjars were on the warpath with the Vasundhara Raje government over the quota row, his intervention helped the two sides break the ice. While his Sudarshan Kriya is a rage among the swish set, it has also been effectively used by AoL volunteers to calm frayed nerves in conflict zones across the world.

Advani is known to share a special rapport with Sri Sri. While the AoL founder is known to drop in at Advani's residence when in town, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate has often been seen overwhelmed in public in his presence. With AoL active in over 100 countries, Sri Sri's reach is phenomenal. It is, however, his influence over opinion makers, intelligentsia, media, and business houses that might sound as an extremely powerful political constituency. Add to that Sri Sri's stance on the Amarnath Yatra, Ram Sethu, Ayodhya, and it becomes apparent that there's more than a convergence of views between him and Advani.

Swami Ramdev: What he brings to Advani

Although he is considered a Vishwa Hindu Parishad camp follower, Ramdev is relatively new in Advani's circuit. However, with his reach growing exponentially, it is only natural that he is feted wherever he goes.

Swami Ramdev, too, attracts followers from the entire political class (except the Left, of course), but it is leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad who have a special affinity for the Yoga exponent. While some may be tempted to see a Yadav bond binding the three (Ramdev was born in a Yadav family), it would be too simplistic a reason. For, there have been umpteen occasions when Ramdev has spoken from various RSS fora on issues dear to the Sangh. Also, like the Sangh, Ramdev is singularly obsessed with India's glorious Vedic past. And his definition of a Hindu - anyone born in India is a Hindu, as he often says - finds resonance in the RSS ideology.

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