Divided pariwar is harming BJP
15 Nov 2012 8:59 PM GMT
The last has certainly not been heard on the fate of BJP president Nitin Gadkari. There is still a month to go before his first term as the party head ends. The persistent opposition by a section of party leadership on Gadkari getting the second term has led to a proxy war between the Sangh pariwar and its protégés. In absence of a tall leader, someone akin to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani of the yore, the party finds itself plunged into a never before leadership crisis. What is adding fuel to fire is more than the visible difference of opinion between the Sangh and the BJP.
Developments of the past week have also indicated towards fissures cropping up within the Sangh on continuation of Gadkari as party president. Party veteran MG Vaidya made no bones about a section led by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi leading the oust Gadkari campaign, sending both the RSS and the BJP scurrying for cover. What has added to the confusion is the consistently shifting stand of another RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy. Less than a fortnight ago Gurumurthy had made a presentation before the BJP leadership giving a clean chit to Gadkari.
However on Diwali day he created a flutter stating that it was not advisable for the party president to run social enterprises. A stand from where too he has now made a shift blaming the media for spreading canard. While media is being blamed for all the ills plaguing the pariwar, it’s also a fact that the party factions in absence of a credible arena have chosen news columns to score brownie points.
This internal strife has left the principal opposition with a black eye, which has lost the advantage vis-a-vis the ruling coalition on the issue of corruption. While on the airwaves likes of India Against Corruption have replaced them, inside Parliament, if leadership crisis persists, there is an outside chance of regional parties like the Trinamool Congress instead of the BJP bringing the pincer attack on Congress on the issues of corruption and Foreign Direct Investment in retail.
The longer the BJP takes to resolve the issue, worse would it create the perception of its ability to replace the Congress as ruling alternative. The cloak and dagger game between the Sangh and its political arm must end once for all if a challenge has to be posed to the Congress-led UPA.
Developments of the past week have also indicated towards fissures cropping up within the Sangh on continuation of Gadkari as party president. Party veteran MG Vaidya made no bones about a section led by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi leading the oust Gadkari campaign, sending both the RSS and the BJP scurrying for cover. What has added to the confusion is the consistently shifting stand of another RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy. Less than a fortnight ago Gurumurthy had made a presentation before the BJP leadership giving a clean chit to Gadkari.
However on Diwali day he created a flutter stating that it was not advisable for the party president to run social enterprises. A stand from where too he has now made a shift blaming the media for spreading canard. While media is being blamed for all the ills plaguing the pariwar, it’s also a fact that the party factions in absence of a credible arena have chosen news columns to score brownie points.
This internal strife has left the principal opposition with a black eye, which has lost the advantage vis-a-vis the ruling coalition on the issue of corruption. While on the airwaves likes of India Against Corruption have replaced them, inside Parliament, if leadership crisis persists, there is an outside chance of regional parties like the Trinamool Congress instead of the BJP bringing the pincer attack on Congress on the issues of corruption and Foreign Direct Investment in retail.
The longer the BJP takes to resolve the issue, worse would it create the perception of its ability to replace the Congress as ruling alternative. The cloak and dagger game between the Sangh and its political arm must end once for all if a challenge has to be posed to the Congress-led UPA.
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