At a glance: The complete story of 'Guru' Advani and 'Chela' Modi

New Delhi: Now that Narendra Modi is all set to take over as the next Prime Minister of India, his equations with his mentor Lal Krishna Advani is once again being debated in media.BJP patriarch L K Advani may have turned anti-Narendra Modi of late but it's a fact that it was Advani himself who groomed Narendra Modi for bigger role in BJP. Although he had never imagined that his own disciple will one day cut him to size.It was Advani who made Modi the CM Of Gujarat, it was the same Advani who saved Modi's chair in the aftermath of Gujarat riots of 2002. Eleven years ago, at the party's national executive meet at Goa, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had almost decided to remove Modi as Gujarat CM, even Modi had tendered his resignation but L K Advani put his foot down firmly and vetoed the idea. Narendra Modi was always seen as a protégé of L K Advani.Advani met Narendra Modi during emergency of 1975. They both struck an instant rapport. Advani who himself was a great organizer was impressed with organizational capabilities of Narendra Modi.Narendra Modi proved his acumen when he won Ahmedabad civic elections in 1987 for BJP. In 1990, Modi played a crucial role in Advani's Ram rath yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya. In fact, he was one of the main architects of this yatra that helped BJP make its presence felt in Gujarat.In 1991, Modi advised Advani to contest Lok Sabha elections from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. ‘Gandhinagar' at that time was represented by Shankarsinh Vaghela. Advani agreed and shifted to Gandhinagar Lok sabha constituency. Modi achieved two objectives through this move. First, he further strengthened his position in Advani's good book and second, he succeeded in sidelining Vaghela who he hated the most in Gujarat BJP. Narendra Modi played a crucial role in assembly elections of 1995. The BJP formed the government under the leadership of Keshubhai Patel with a two-thirds majority. Recognising the contribution of Narendra Modi , Advani promoted him as BJP's organizational general secretary. During Keshubhai's tenure as Gujarat CM, Modi was accused of acting as ‘Super CM' but Advani's patronage always came to the rescue of Modi. The problem for Advani mounted when Vaghela revolted in 1996 and took away some of his loyal MLAs to Khajuraho. Modi's style was seen as one of the reasons for Vaghela's revolt.Modi's detractors in the party convinced the central leadership of the need for shifting Modi out of Gujarat. A worried central leadership shifted Modi to Assam but once again Advani came to the defence of Modi and ensured that Modi was instead sent to a nearer location. Advani was then made in-charge of Punjab-Haryana-Himachal.Keshubhai Patel stormed back to power in 1998 but lost much of the seen in next couple of years on account of poor management in the aftermath of Kandla cyclone and Kutch earthquake. BJP lost five consecutive assembly by-elections.As administration looked to be slipping out of the hands of Keshubhai Patel, BJP decided to replace Keshubhai Patel. And again, it was Advani who suggested Narendra Modi's name and succeeded in anointing Narendra Modi as the CM of Gujarat in October 2001. Advani's move raised many eyebrows both within and outside BJP because Modi had no prior experience of running administration but Advani's support neutralized all opposition to Modi's appointment. From here onwards, there was no looking back for Modi and the rest, as we say, is history.As mentioned above, Advani once again saved Modi's chair in 2002 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee wanted him to go in the aftermath of Gujarat riots.So when did the relationship turn sour? The first crack appeared in 2005 when Modi refused to support Advani on his Jinnah remark. Advani was disappointed with Modi as he refused to endorse Advani's line on Jinnah's secular credentials. During 2009, Advani noticed that Modi had become more ambitious and in public meetings in Gujarat, the public preferred to leave whenever Advani begun to speak. The public waited for Modi apeech and did not care to stay and listen to Advani's speech. This further widened the chasm. In 2011, just before his Jan Chetna Yatra, the RSS conveyed to Advani that he should stop dreaming of bcoming PM and instead should make way for younger generation. Advani had understood by then that Modi had become the preference of the parent organization. A miffed Advani shifted the launch of his yatra to Bihar where Modi's bête noire Nitish was in power.Now that Modi is all set to take over the reins of power, it will be interesting to see if Advani agrees to join Modi's cabinet.Let's have a look at some of the most interesting photographs of this guru-chela duo: