The publication of a book, especially a memoir, usually follows a predictable trajectory. First the release of some scandalous tidbits which titillate interest in the book; then the inevitable book tour where the writer goes around giving interviews to further enhance reader curiosity.

BJP leader LK Advani’s thousand-page autobiography, My Country, My Life, has followed this template, but there is a bit more too. His book launch has inevitably got a political hue, given that the next general election, scheduled at the latest in May 2009, may not be far away. In Delhi, the function was predictably a high-power political event, with the bigwigs of the BJP and Sangh Parivar faithfully present and accounted for. Former president APJ Abdul Kalam also dropped in.

In Mumbai, Bollywood made its presence felt with Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, but party members were present in large numbers. The spotlight has been more on the author than the heavyweight book. There are launches in other cities — Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore — slated for the next few weeks and no doubt the party faithful will turn up in large numbers to ensure that they hail their new chief in his long walk towards Delhi.

Of course, Advani himself is playing down the political part. He dropped by 10, Janpath to meet Sonia Gandhi on Holi. It is the gentler, more statesman-like Advani who is stepping forward. He says that it was his family who motivated to write the book. His daughter and wife have been seen with him constantly. Iron Man he may be in politics, but Advani the author is a more all-round personality who wants everyone to talk about the book and not the issues of the day, at least not during the book tour.

But he cannot escape the politics. Apart from his BJP supporters who throng the launches, the book itself is raising some dust, with its revelations about the Kandahar hijack affair, where the author has made some sensational claims that he was allegedly not kept in the loop. Given that the episode was a major failure of the NDA administration, is Advani distancing himself from it?

Though critics might dub the autobiography as a political manifesto, and even say that only has been politicians past their best write their memoirs, let us not grudge him his moment as an author. He certainly seems to be enjoying the touring and all that comes with it, including the queues for autographs on copies of the book. But Advani the author will have to share the limelight with Advani the politician — it is a pity that his partymen seem to be concentrating on the latter more than the former.