Wannabe PMs pull BJP down
17 Nov 2012 3:49 AM IST
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is not the only person feeling restless over the prospects of Narendra Modi as the next prime ministerial candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The same restlessness may also be found in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The former spokesman of RSS, MG Vaidya demonstrated his frustration over the growing stature of Narendra Modi in a calculated way. Though, the turbulence caused by his blog blaming the Gujarat chief minister for the current ordeal of BJP President Nitin Gadkari, has subsided, it has shown that there is intense infighting within BJP and RSS over the issue of the PM candidate of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the next general elections of Lok Sabha.
For the past many months, the politics of BJP has been veering towards Narendra Modi. Earlier a guessing game used to be played to know who would feel the vacuum of leadership after the Atal Advani era. Atal is resting because of his poor health and Advani was forced to rest by RSS after the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Advani was asked to hand over his role of party leader to second-rung leaders. He obeyed it and made Sushma Swaraj the leader of Lok Sabha and Arun Jaitley the leader of Rajya Sabha of his party’s parliamentarians. Then the question doing the round was who among Sushma, Jaitley, Narendra Modi, Venkaiah Naidu, Rajnath Singh and Ananth Kumar would be at the helm of the party. It seemed that there would be keen competition among them to reach the top. At the end of the tenure of Rajnath Singh as Party President, RSS brought Nitin Gadkari in the Centre and made him party President. Another unknown name came at the stage.
With the arrival of Nitin Gadkari in Delhi as party president, the power centre shifted to Nagpur. Though Rajnath Singh, too, was a Sangh nominee, he used to function in a democratic way and used to take into confidence other central leaders before taking a decision. But Gadkari did not care for the other central leaders and the only ones he took into his confidence were his bosses in Nagpur. Advani, Sushma, Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and other leaders were hardly consulted on major issues.
The Uttar Pradesh election is an example. He did not consult the foresaid leaders before giving entry to the tainted former ministers of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) into the party. It resulted in the party losing face in an environment where even corrupt leaders were making corruption an election issue. Such decisions caused the BJP to loose Uttarakhand by a slender margin, because the main issue of BJP in the hill state was the enactment of a Lokayukta Law to the liking of Anna Hazare. Uttarakhand was a part Of UP just 11 years ago and the entry of tainted leaders of BSP into BJP damaged its chance in Uttarakhand.
Even in UP, BJP suffered a lot because of such tainted entries and even its urban middle class supporters moved towards Mulayam Singh Yadav in significant numbers giving victories to Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates even in BJP strongholds of urban Uttar Pradesh. Charged with the support of RSS, Gadkari might have succeeded in marginalising the BJP leaders based in Delhi, but he could not cut to size the strongman in Gujarat. He refused to campaign in February Assembly elections of 2012 in four states because Sanjay Joshi was rehabilitated in the party and was made UP in-charge. He did not even attend the national executive meeting. When an executive meeting was being held in Mumbai, Narendra Modi threatened to not only abstain, but also resign from it, if Sanjay Joshi was not removed from the party positions. Gadkari was forced to oblige him.
Modi was taking on his detractors in RSS and BJP and at the same time trying to improve his image among the Muslims. As the most vocal leader of BJP, Modi has naturally emerged as the most popular leader among the BJP workers. Almost all surveys are now showing Modi as the most popular political leader of India. The findings from these surveys made him a natural claimant to the top slot of his party. Â
Nitish Kumar is yet another leader, who does not like Narendra Modi, because of the fear of loosing hold of Bihar politics, if the Gujarat strongman is made the national face of BJP. When Modi was engaged in his battle against Gadkari and his RSS bosses, Nitish raised the issue of prime ministerial candidate of BJP and demanded the name of the candidate should be announced without delay. He was ready to accept anyone other than Narendra Modi. Nitish Kumar thought that by making such a demand he was strengthening the hand of RSS and Nitin Gadkari, who would show Modi his place. But the Bihar chief minister has made a wrong calculation. The RSS rebuffed him for asking to name a secular man as candidate of the BJP. RSS reactions over Nitish’s demand only added to Modi’s strength.
RSS wants a second term for Gadkari. BJP obliged by changing its constitution to enable a second term for Gadkari, but the media exposure of the corrupt practices of his company has demolished the game plan of his bosses. One of the leaders, who can gain from Gadkari’s plight is Modi. Gadkari’s fall can be the rise of Modi. That is why Gadkari is being defended. Gadkari’s exposure has definitely harmed BJP in Himachal Pradesh. The extent of harm can be known only after the poll results are announced. In Gujarat, Gadkari’s exposure may not work in the same way, because Narendra Modi is the only issue of election there. A big win for BJP may weaken the anti-Modi forces inside RSS, hence they may try to damage the BJP prospect there. MG Vaidya’s blog is targeted on that. Even during last the assembly elections, saffron leaders like Pravin Togadiya had worked against the party, but their opposition did not work.
After MG Vaidya’s blog, there is silence now, but it will be broken after the Gujarat elections. Advani is another factor in the infighting of BJP and RSS. He may not have the support of RSS, but Janata Dal (United) is behind him. He has made his frustration over not becoming Prime Minister of the country known many times. After the Gadkari episode, he was nursing the hope of becoming at least interim president of the party, but his hope was dashed and once again he showed his frustration by claiming that the party has given him a lot. At the earliest opportunity, Advani will officially join the battle for BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. [IPA]
For the past many months, the politics of BJP has been veering towards Narendra Modi. Earlier a guessing game used to be played to know who would feel the vacuum of leadership after the Atal Advani era. Atal is resting because of his poor health and Advani was forced to rest by RSS after the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Advani was asked to hand over his role of party leader to second-rung leaders. He obeyed it and made Sushma Swaraj the leader of Lok Sabha and Arun Jaitley the leader of Rajya Sabha of his party’s parliamentarians. Then the question doing the round was who among Sushma, Jaitley, Narendra Modi, Venkaiah Naidu, Rajnath Singh and Ananth Kumar would be at the helm of the party. It seemed that there would be keen competition among them to reach the top. At the end of the tenure of Rajnath Singh as Party President, RSS brought Nitin Gadkari in the Centre and made him party President. Another unknown name came at the stage.
With the arrival of Nitin Gadkari in Delhi as party president, the power centre shifted to Nagpur. Though Rajnath Singh, too, was a Sangh nominee, he used to function in a democratic way and used to take into confidence other central leaders before taking a decision. But Gadkari did not care for the other central leaders and the only ones he took into his confidence were his bosses in Nagpur. Advani, Sushma, Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and other leaders were hardly consulted on major issues.
The Uttar Pradesh election is an example. He did not consult the foresaid leaders before giving entry to the tainted former ministers of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) into the party. It resulted in the party losing face in an environment where even corrupt leaders were making corruption an election issue. Such decisions caused the BJP to loose Uttarakhand by a slender margin, because the main issue of BJP in the hill state was the enactment of a Lokayukta Law to the liking of Anna Hazare. Uttarakhand was a part Of UP just 11 years ago and the entry of tainted leaders of BSP into BJP damaged its chance in Uttarakhand.
Even in UP, BJP suffered a lot because of such tainted entries and even its urban middle class supporters moved towards Mulayam Singh Yadav in significant numbers giving victories to Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates even in BJP strongholds of urban Uttar Pradesh. Charged with the support of RSS, Gadkari might have succeeded in marginalising the BJP leaders based in Delhi, but he could not cut to size the strongman in Gujarat. He refused to campaign in February Assembly elections of 2012 in four states because Sanjay Joshi was rehabilitated in the party and was made UP in-charge. He did not even attend the national executive meeting. When an executive meeting was being held in Mumbai, Narendra Modi threatened to not only abstain, but also resign from it, if Sanjay Joshi was not removed from the party positions. Gadkari was forced to oblige him.
Modi was taking on his detractors in RSS and BJP and at the same time trying to improve his image among the Muslims. As the most vocal leader of BJP, Modi has naturally emerged as the most popular leader among the BJP workers. Almost all surveys are now showing Modi as the most popular political leader of India. The findings from these surveys made him a natural claimant to the top slot of his party. Â
Nitish Kumar is yet another leader, who does not like Narendra Modi, because of the fear of loosing hold of Bihar politics, if the Gujarat strongman is made the national face of BJP. When Modi was engaged in his battle against Gadkari and his RSS bosses, Nitish raised the issue of prime ministerial candidate of BJP and demanded the name of the candidate should be announced without delay. He was ready to accept anyone other than Narendra Modi. Nitish Kumar thought that by making such a demand he was strengthening the hand of RSS and Nitin Gadkari, who would show Modi his place. But the Bihar chief minister has made a wrong calculation. The RSS rebuffed him for asking to name a secular man as candidate of the BJP. RSS reactions over Nitish’s demand only added to Modi’s strength.
RSS wants a second term for Gadkari. BJP obliged by changing its constitution to enable a second term for Gadkari, but the media exposure of the corrupt practices of his company has demolished the game plan of his bosses. One of the leaders, who can gain from Gadkari’s plight is Modi. Gadkari’s fall can be the rise of Modi. That is why Gadkari is being defended. Gadkari’s exposure has definitely harmed BJP in Himachal Pradesh. The extent of harm can be known only after the poll results are announced. In Gujarat, Gadkari’s exposure may not work in the same way, because Narendra Modi is the only issue of election there. A big win for BJP may weaken the anti-Modi forces inside RSS, hence they may try to damage the BJP prospect there. MG Vaidya’s blog is targeted on that. Even during last the assembly elections, saffron leaders like Pravin Togadiya had worked against the party, but their opposition did not work.
After MG Vaidya’s blog, there is silence now, but it will be broken after the Gujarat elections. Advani is another factor in the infighting of BJP and RSS. He may not have the support of RSS, but Janata Dal (United) is behind him. He has made his frustration over not becoming Prime Minister of the country known many times. After the Gadkari episode, he was nursing the hope of becoming at least interim president of the party, but his hope was dashed and once again he showed his frustration by claiming that the party has given him a lot. At the earliest opportunity, Advani will officially join the battle for BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. [IPA]
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