Big BJP boss steps in to save protégés

New Delhi, March 14 (IANS) The shock outburst by a clutch of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs over the women's reservation bill left some party satraps red-faced after they put up a spirited defence in the Rajya Sabha. But when there's a crisis, there's big boss L.K. Advani.

Opposition to the bill by controversial Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur and Hukumdev Naryan Yadav from Madhubani was seen as a clear challenge to the leaders of opposition in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha - Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

Swaraj and Jaitley are party patriarch Advani's protégés and vocal supporters of the bill that seeks to reverse decades of male-dominated decision-making. It finally necessitated all the formidable powers of the octogenarian Advani to quell the simmering rebellion.

Just goes to show that though there may have been a change of guard, the party is finding it difficult to look beyond Advani in crisis situations.