Vishwambhar Srivastava was BJP veteran LK Advani's aide for over three decades. A few months ago he decided to write a book on the long association with a leader who has been a key architect of India's political history. But one day before the official release of the book titled "Advani Ke Sath 32 Saal" (32 Years With Advani) came a jolt. Through his secretary, Mr Advani has disassociated himself from the book. "This book does not have the consent of LK Advani and has been published against his wishes," the leader's secretary, Deepak Chopra, said in a statement.
Sources close to Mr Srivastava say that he was surprised by the curt letter released to the media. They said, "the manuscript during drafting was sent to Mr Advani so was the final manuscript. This has come as a complete surprise." In fact the pictures of Mr Srivastava holding the book standing with Mr Advani taken some days ago indicate that the BJP patriarch was "aware of the book." The book will be released today by another BJP leader RK Sinha and the chief guest of the ceremony will be Rajya Sabha lawmaker Subramanian Swamy.