Modi, Amit Shah replace Vajpayee, Advani: Posters of old giants missing at BJP's Delhi rally

New Delhi: The 2014 general elections have set new predictments among the ranks of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Old stalwarts like Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Pundit Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani, who founded and steered the political outfit through most of the difficult times, have apparently lost importance.

In ‘Abhinandan Rally’ organized by the Delhi BJP at Ramlila Maidan on Saturday to kickstart its poll campaign, the portraits of these leaders were missing from the main stage and were replaced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. These old timers, ideologues and leaders found their place at the curtain covering the stage at the bottom.

However, the party calls it a mistake, which was not deliberate, but – as already been in debate – the new leadership of the saffron brigade has started to overshadow the old giants. The placement of the portraits strengthen the arguments of those who believe that Prime Minister Modi and his deputy Amit Shah have completely become the new synonym for the BJP. And the party is now represented by figures than its core ideology formulated by thinkers like Shayama Prasad Mukherjee, Deendayal Upadhyaya and leaders like Vajpayee and Advani who raised the party to new heights.

Admitting that it was a mistake, which was not intentional, the state unit of the saffron party said the placement of the portraits does not matter because the stalwarts are in the heart of every leader and worker of the party.

“These leaders are revered icons of integral humanism. They are the icons of peace and integrity. The placement of their portraits does not a matter as they are in our hearts and a guiding force,” Delhi BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay told Firstpost.

“Yes, it was a mistake but not intentional. And the issue should not be blown out of proportion,” he said.

The opposition is using it a tool to take a jibe on the BJP and its leadership. “The treatment given to these stalwarts show their ego and arrogance. And it will result in their debacle,” said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Somnath Bharti.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Arvinder Singh Lovely termed it a “political opportunism”. “Although it is the internal matter of the party, but it can be called an act of political opportunism. The BJP is using faces based on pragmatism which has no relevance to the ideas of their own leaders. This act affirms that for them, their ideals have no place in their hearts,” he told Firstpost adding that “the height of their opportunism is exposed by the fact that it is using Mahatma Gandhi as a symbol to mobilize masses, the same Gandhi who advocated and lived for principles like secularism.