With less than 24 hours before Advani kicks off his sixth rath yatra, Sangh Parivar factions in Rajkot have decided to provide us with some in-house entertainment.
Almost overnight, graffiti have cropped up on the city’s Race Course Road, near the Kisan pura chawk and at Mahila College crossing.
‘Kaho dil se Sanjay Joshi fir se’, it says. It means, ‘Say it from your heart; it’s Sanjay Joshi again.
There is a story behind this.
Before we go into it, just to refresh your mind, two things: Sanjay Joshi was recently given a clean chit in a sex scandal and Advani never was a great fan of Joshi.
Now, on Tuesday, Advani and Rajnath Singh convened a press conference in New Delhi and tried to impress 200 journalists that their twin yatra was important, relevant and meaningful with issues having far-reaching implications on national security.
Their enthusiasm didn't wash with most journalists; the lovely lunch spread out in the lawns did.
Over hot dosas, vadas and Punjabi food, many journalists were asking each other, “yatra ke piche issue kya hai?"
If that is the mood in Delhi, the situation is no different in Rajkot.
Rajkot-based Deepak Rajani, group editor of the six-edition Aajkaal says, "The media in the city is not aware of why the yatra is being taken out. The people are also clueless."
As Advani was addressing the press in Delhi about the Congress' appeasement of Muslims, the RSS was appeasing Sanjay Joshi literally behind Advani's back. Joshi was reinstated as the BJP's general secretary.
BJP sources said Advani was furious to know that Joshi was back so soon and that too when he is embarking upon an important yatra.
His adversaries in the party are terming it as "survival yatra", and the Congress calls it a "danga yatra." (a riot yatra)
The canny and secretive Joshi rarely speaks, but when Advani went soft on Jinnah in Pakistan, he released a press note in his name, surprising one and all in the Sangh parivar.
He went on play a big part in Advani’s ouster.
Just as Joshi was relaxing after the coup, he was trapped in the sex CD scandal and had to resign from the BJP and RSS.
Not to be cowed down, he has come out clean in just a few months -- albeit mysteriously.
The Advani camp could not stomach Joshi’s stunning return.
Add to this, the local animosity between Modi and former Gujarat CM Keshubhai Patel.
Advani and Narendra Modi are on one side and Patel and VHP leader Pravin Togadia are on the other, with the strong backing of Sanjay Joshi.
As the yatra begins, you can look forward to more mud slinging from either side.
After all, the Saurashtra region, from where the yatra will begin, is Keshubhai’s stronghold.
There are more twists in this tale.
-- Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi and Kinner Acharya in Rajkot