Rage explodes within BJP

SANJAY K. JHA.THE TELEGRAPHL:

SANJAY K. JHA.THE TELEGRAPH :New Delhi, June 20: The BJP appears plunged in an anarchic, and uncontainable, internal feud. Senior leaders fiercely defied party president Rajnath Singh’s appeal for restraint and discipline and vented their frustrations on the first day of the party’s national executive meeting called to analyse the electoral debacle. The day began with the hope that backroom fire-fighting would have put an end to the unparalleled public bickering in the lead-up to the meeting. But that soon evaporated with party veteran Jaswant Singh lighting the fire again. He made an unscheduled and emotional intervention that climaxed in his threat to quit active politics. Sources revealed that Jaswant complained bitterly about being insulted by colleagues who had planted stories in the media suggesting that he was fighting for a personal position in the party. The former external affairs minister, who represents Darjeeling in the Lok Sabha, said he was in politics for social service and would quit if the party felt he was raising issues because he did not get a room as leader of the Opposition in Parliament. Jaswant said he felt deeply hurt and had told L.K. Advani that he would never contest elections again. Arun Shourie then grabbed the opportunity to present his case, repeating the charges he had levelled in his letter yesterday. Demanding a mechanism for fixing accountability, he said a wrong message would go out to party workers if persons responsible for the defeat were not punished. Shourie barely attempted to conceal that his target was Arun Jaitley, the party’s chief electoral strategist, who has recently been nominated to the leadership of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Shourie wondered how people directly responsible for election management were not attending such a crucial meeting. Jaitley is holidaying in Europe and was seen watching a Twenty20 match at Lord’s in London last week. Shourie also asked why state leaders were being held responsible for the debacle when “even the permission to hang a hoarding has to come from Delhi”. Shourie wanted a larger number of people engaged in the process of investigating the causes of the defeat to ensure that “well-entrenched forces” within the party didn’t cover up their mistakes. He said the issues raised by Jaswant and Yashwant Sinha should be thoroughly discussed as those concerns were vital to the party’s future. Yashwant had objected to failure being rewarded, referring to Jaitley’s recent promotion. Shourie’s assault was so focused on Jaitley’s role that he even questioned his decision to hand over the CD of the cash-for-vote scandal to a TV channel which is “known to be anti-BJP”. Asking the leadership why the defeat of 2004 was not properly probed, Shourie suggested that the final report of the investigation into the 2009 elections should be made public. It is significant perhaps that both Jaswant and Shourie, and the object of their ire, Jaitley, are close to Advani. Jaitley was targeted by Maneka Gandhi, too, who sought to question the wisdom of those who wanted to use her son Varun as the scapegoat. Jaitley had blamed the Pilibhit episode much before Shahnawaz Hussein and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi spoke out at yesterday’s meeting. Maneka wanted a debate on the issue, questioning the very premise that the polarisation caused by Varun’s remark damaged the BJP. She asked when the BJP had relied on Muslim votes and how Varun was solely responsible for the party’s poor showing nationwide. Maneka was scathing in her criticism of Jaitley, claiming that he did not even care to talk to candidates who were fighting in the field despite being in charge of Uttar Pradesh. Sources said more attacks on Jaitley, and journalist-ideologues close to him who had attacked Hindutva, were expected tomorrow. Large sections of the party are learnt to be angry with Advani and Jaitley aides who have now begun to criticise the BJP’s ideology and are advising the party to adopt a Congress-like moderate agenda.