But Bindusara had another wife and through her he had another son, Ashoka, a fearless warrior, great administrator of Ujjain, and extremely popular among the masses and ministers. When Ashoka was sent to Takshila he contained the revolt and established and peace and order. All the fretting and fuming of noble men and scheming by his own father King Bindusara could not keep Ashoka from his tryst with destiny. If Ashoka was an idea whose time had come in 269 BC, it is Narendra Modi whose time has come in 2014.

Like Bindusara, BJP’s Lal Krishna Advani has been trying hard to halt Modi’s ride to 7 Race Course Road, New Delhi. First, he openly discredited Mr Modi by heavily complimenting Shivraj Singh Chouhan as a better performer, downplaying the challenges faced by Narendra Modi from his political opponents and media outfits. Even after this, when BJP made Mr Modi chief of its election campaign committee, Advani hastily resigned all party posts before retreating in a huff, ridiculing himself in the eyes of the masses and his own partymen.

Then again, on September 13, 2013 when the BJP was all set to anoint Mr Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, Advani did not attend the meeting and tried to veto the proposal. It is said that despite this, when Narendra Modi when appointed prime ministerial candidate and went to pay a courtesy call on him at his Delhi residence, Advani discourteously offered Mr Modi a place in the meeting room and not at the main hall of the house, a humiliation by all standards. And again when they both met at Ram Jethmalani’s function, Advani showed him a cold face.

When assembly elections to four states (Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh) were announced, LK Advani raised his voice again by saying that Mr Modi’s appointment as prime ministerial candidate would be disastrous to the party, but again he failed miserably in his assessment when the BJP posted tremendous victory in the polls. Mr Advani is said to have instigated Nitish Kumar to break away from the BJP to present the spectre before the whole country that Mr Modi’s anointment would disintegrate the party. (It is a separate matter that the Congress also misguided him to stand up as the alternate candidate of the third front).

At a massive rally in Bhopal, when even Narendra Modi went to the extent of touching his feet, Mr Advani retreated and turned his face the other way, a spectacle witnessed by the entire nation, and Mr Modi suffered unnecessary humiliation from this undeserving Advani. Even after all this, when the parliamentary elections were announced, Advani again created a ruckus by first asking why him name was not in the first list from Gandhinagar, demanding that he get a ticket, and then stating that he would prefer to stand from Bhopal rather than Gandhinagar.

This again was a needless controversy created only to throw mud at Mr Modi and spoil his victory chances. Like Sisupala in the Mahabharata, who hurled many words of abuse on Sri Krishna, Mr Modi has been exercising remarkable patience with Mr Advani. Like Sisupala, every time he took Krishna’s name to insult him he was uttering His name, and so also each time Advani tried to tarnish the image of Modi, the latter gained further acceptance from the masses and his own party men. The Gujarat chief minister showed exemplary patience throughout.

And now again, campaigning in Maharashtra on March 31, 2014, LK Advani said that Mr Modi is not the only Chief Minister who has scored a hat-trick, but there are two others in the same league (meaning SS Chauhan and Raman Singh).

But the more inflammatory remark he made was intended to fuel the passions of the minority. He said that in 1990 when he made a rath yatra to demand a Ram Temple at the site of the Babri Masjid, it was Narendra Modi who accompanied him at that time. He thus indirectly gave additional cause to the minorities that Mr Modi is their villain.

Like a leopard that can never change its spots, Mr Advani is behaving as if the Prime Minister’s post is his birthright. He must remember that he and his party were given not one but two chances in 2004 and 2009, and on both these occasions he alone proved a disaster for the BJP because there was a total disconnect with the masses for leaders like Advani, Sushma Swaraj et al. The same people were sitting mostly in air conditioned chambers at home and making occasional speeches in Parliament; other than this they have not done anything to improve their own credentials of those of the party.

The same rootless wonder Advani gang sitting at Delhi was seen hobnobbing with Sonia & co and enjoying the fringe benefits thrown at them by the Congress and at the same time their names were continuously propped up by media under some pretext or other, thus ensuring them limelight at the behest of the Congress. While all this were happening in Delhi, Narendra bhai was toiling with the administration of his State and brilliantly established a connection with the masses through alternative media via the internet as mainstream media spewed venom on him and continuously derided his governance. Turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to their vicious publicity, he kept working for the development of his State which act has separated him from the childish leaders of the BJP who were bent upon sitting at Delhi and enjoying the luxurious life of the Lutyens Club.

Advani, Sushma et al who are past their prime must think what is that they want to achieve by contesting the 2014 elections? Do they have any votebank for them or for the party through them? Do they think that they are the rightful owners of the BJP and they must be given their due share when the party comes to power? If this is so, they are sadly mistaken. The present popularity for the party rests solely with Narendra Modi and his tireless work in the last 15 years in Gujarat. Narendra Modi is far superior to SS Chouhan and Raman Singh not only as an administrator but also as a challenger to the Congress legacy. This is not my perception alone, but the popular perception as well.

Narendra Modi has been calling for Congress Mukt Bharat at all political platforms in this election. However, I would like to remind Modi ji that the people also want an Advani-Mukt BJP as he has clearly become a liability for the party, and it is all the more necessary to think and believe that while Mr Modi wants to empower the nation, Mr Advani merely wants power for himself and his coterie.

The author is a Madurai-based chartered accountant; his email is suri1759@gmail.com