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Reading Vinay Sitapati’s book on ABV-Advani. Will share some interesting tidbits here.
Charan Singh to Advani.
Charan Singh to Advani.
“His (Savarkar’s) study of England had taught him that the race and ethnicity of the majority undergird even their ‘civic’ nationalism”
Wrong assessment? Savarkar wasn’t preoccupied with race/ethnicity. Maybe he learnt that UK’s majority religion undergird its civic nationalism?
Wrong assessment? Savarkar wasn’t preoccupied with race/ethnicity. Maybe he learnt that UK’s majority religion undergird its civic nationalism?
“India’s first elections (in 1920) froze the idea that Indians could not be viewed as individuals, but only through the lens of caste or religion.”
“Though attending shakhas more than a thousand kilometres apart, Vajpayee and Advani learnt the same version of Hindu history, one plagued by a lack of unity that rendered it vulnerable to invasions. The focus was on Shivaji, the Maratha Empire and the third battle of Panipat...
...The hefty losses that the Marathas suffered in that pivotal battle—which weakened them and paved the way for British rule—was attributed to Hindu disunity. Their Afghan enemy Ahmad Shah Abdali was able to rally Indian Muslim allies on the basis of religion. The Marathas...
The Marathas on the other hand, could not get Jats and Rajputs to side with them. These history lessons sparked in Advani a suspicion of Muslims, what his syncretic Sindhi childhood had scarcely countenanced.”
Savarkar Vs Golwalkar
Wonder why Sitapati is referring to Savarkar as beef eater? Or is that what Golwalkar thought of him? AFAIK he neither ate it nor supported. Only gave an example once that if Hindu fort is under siege & last option to survive, fight is to eat beef, then that’s better than dying.
Lol. So like Nehru, ABV also didn’t like Israel.
Why no Hindutva causes made their way into law under the Janata govt.
Vajpayee wrote an article in the Indian Express after Janata Party experiment failed and suggested that the RSS should formally disavow the concept of ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and replace it with ‘Bharatiya Rashtra’.
Modi’s first day in the BJP.
“Both he [Narendra Modi] and Amit Shah had been critical of Vajpayee’s ‘Gandhian socialism’ and were fine-tuning a strategy of uniting high-and low-caste Hindus by using Muslims as scapegoats.”
‘I knew Modi then,’ journalist Sheela Bhatt says. ‘He knew the caste [breakup] of every village in Gujarat. His understanding of the traditions and colloquial language of each caste is deep.’
“During 2019 election campaign, Shah was asked in private what the difference was between him and Modi on one hand, and Vajpayee–Advani on the other. He replied: ‘They never believed that fully waving Hindutva flag could win them votes. This is the difference between us and them”
Vajpayee-Advani govt was a disgrace. This is what they were doing after expelling Pakistan ambassador after Parliament terrorist attack.
“The journalist Vir Sanghvi had written at the time that Advani was the second most important man in the country. Shourie adds, ‘Indeed, Advani was the second most powerful man. The most powerful was the one who met him last.’”
Shourie told Sitapati how impressionable Advani was
Shourie told Sitapati how impressionable Advani was
Mahajan, who was present at the Babri Masjid, later admitted to Vajpayee: ‘All the generals were present there. I don’t know what went wrong.’
Vajpayee replied: ‘In 1761 in Panipat also there were too many generals..’
ABV compared Babri demolition to Panipat defeat of Hindus!!!
Vajpayee replied: ‘In 1761 in Panipat also there were too many generals..’
ABV compared Babri demolition to Panipat defeat of Hindus!!!
RSS analysis of Babri demolition (in private).
“This is what happens when Sadhus, not pracharaks, take leadership”
“This is what happens when Sadhus, not pracharaks, take leadership”
Guts of Amit Shah. He was a sitting MLA of the BJP. But that didn’t prevent him from shooting off an angry letter to PM Vajpayee after Nuclear tests, admonishing him for his “greed for publicity”.
At Sangam Talks I had asked Goradia ji why he called Modi as first Hindu PM and not considered Vajpayee or Narsimha Rao as Hindu. And he said Rao was Half-Hindu and ABV was Bharatiya version of Nehru 
He was lone defender of Modi on TV after 2002. And got a call from PMO
He was lone defender of Modi on TV after 2002. And got a call from PMO
