With former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee unable to attend a programme — organised by Lok Abhiyan at FICCI auditorium — to celebrate his birthday, it was the turn of his party colleagues to reaffirm that the leadership mantle had indeed passed on to Lal Krishna Advani. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Advani and Vijay Goel — all of whom were present at the programme — talked about the 50-year-long association of Vajpayee and Advani and that Vajpayee is more a father-figure than a future leader. They also said that Vajpayee was unable to attend the function as he was unwell and wished him a speedy recovery.

The undercurrent theme that dominated the speeches of these three leaders was that Vajpayee era — however glorious — was over. They were also at pains to dismiss the impression that Vajpayee and Advani are rival power centres in the BJP.

Advani said that the five-decade-long association between Vajpayee and him was something unprecedented in the history of Indian politics. He said that Vajpayee was his senior and leader.

Vijay Goel said, “Once, Advani had announced that Vajpayee will be the Prime Minister, and today Vajpayee has said that Advani will lead the party to victory in the next Lok Sabha elections and be the next Prime Minister.”

Rajnath Singh said that Vajpayee had been a yardstick in terms of popular appeal. He said that multi-laned highways, development in the information technology sector and a farmer-friendly policy of reducing interest on farmers’ loans from 16 percent to 8.5 percent were the primary achievements of the Vajpayee Government. He added that the Gujarat victory was Vajpayee’s birthday present.