Senior BJP leader L K Advani playing solo

Act in a hurry and regret at leisure. Senior BJP leader, L K Advani, caused an avoidable embarrassment to the party by unilaterally writing a letter to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the question of black money salted away in secret accounts in tax havens abroad. It is undeniable that lots of Indians have hidden their illicit money in secret accounts abroad. It is also undeniable that such money is not held directly in their names. Invariably, secret accounts in tax havens are operated in the name of anonymous trusts or benami.

Lawyers and/ or close relatives with foreign passports operate these accounts on behalf of Indians. It is doubtful if any of the industrialists who are widely suspected of keeping tonnes of tax- evaded billions in foreign accounts do so in their own names. Advani ought to have been careful in relying on a couple of his hangerson who are now spearheading the campaign against black money. Unless a leader is able to exercise his own judgement, he invariably falls a victim to the mechanization of his sycophants and hangers-on.

Unfortunately, the failed prime ministerial candidate of the BJP has all along shown poor judgement in choosing his ` chamchas,' rewarding some of them with membership of the Rajya Sabha while treating the motivated advice of others as gospel truth. Advani has been ill- served by people ` very' close to him. He ought to have kept the party in the loop by taking up the issue of black money. And having taken it up, he ought to have consulted the party leadership before turning turtle. Meanwhile, if his mea culpa teaches him to distance himself from his `coterie,' the embarrassing episode would have at least yielded some good.