The 83-year-old L.K. Advani, who led the party in the 2009 election, also lingers, ghostlike, hoping for another pop at being prime minister.

ECONOMIST: Indian politics

India's home-affairs minister, L.K. Advani (a powerful hawk), described the attackers as fedayeen but pointed no immediate finger at Pakistan.

ECONOMIST: Were Pakistanis involved?

BJP-led coalition government, and L. K. Advani, the deputy prime minister.

ECONOMIST: The politics of business schools