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BJP troubles in Maharashtra and Gujarat continue |
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There is no end to the problems faced by the BJP in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
The party has not yet been able to sort out the issue of its alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. The issue figured prominently at the meeting of the BJP’s Central Parliamentary Board on August 2 night. While Maharashtra BJP leaders including Gopinath Munde called for an immediate parting of ways with the Shiv Sena following the Sena’s decision to back UPA nominee Pratibha Patil in the Presidential election, central leaders asked the state leadership to hold a final round of discussions with the Sena’s working president Udhav Thackeray.
The BJP indicated later that it will decide on whether to continue the alliance with the Shiv Sena or not, by the end of this month or early next month. The Shiv Sena has announced that it will take a decision on the Vice Presidential election - whether or not to support NDA candidate Najma Heptullah - only after the BJP takes a decision on the future of their alliance.
Things are no better in Gujarat with an internal survey by BJP’s central leadership saying that if the State goes to the polls today, the BJP would find it difficult to get even a simple majority. The survey conducted by a private agency commissioned by the party to ascertain the party’s chances in this year’s Gujarat Assembly elections found the BJP confident of winning only 33 of the total 182 seats. It gave the Congress and Inde¬pendents over 35 seats. Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s camp has attributed the projection to the anti-incumbency factor.
Meanwhile, in another blow to Narendra Modi, senior party leaders Suresh Mehta, Kashi Ram Rana and A.K. Patel, for the first time attended a meeting of dissidents in Gandhinagar on August 2. Though they did not speak to the media, their presence at the dissidents’ meeting shows that divisions within the Gujar¬at BJP are set to sharpen in the days to come. The rebels visit¬ed former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel after the meeting was over.
Governor returns the controversial religion Bill
In another setback for Narendra Modi, Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma has returned the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill 2006 to the State Assembly for reconsideration. The Gover¬nor said that after careful consideration, he found that the amended bill was violative of Art. 25 of the Constitution guaran¬teeing freedom of religion and protection against forced or fraudulent conversions.
The Bill sought to amend Section 2 (b) of the Gujarat Free¬dom of Religion Act passed in 2003 to prevent conversion by use of force, fraudulent means or by allurement. The Act sought to change the definition of “conversion” by which changing from one”denomination” to another of the same religion was excluded from the meaning of “convert”.
What caused resentment among the Jains, Buddhists, Muslims and a section of the Christians was that the Bill described Jainism and Buddhism as “denominations” of Hinduism, Shia and Sunni as “denominations” of Islam and Catholics and Protestants as “denominations” of the Christian religion.
Modi decides to stick to ban on religious conversions
The Gujarat Cabinet at a meeting on August 1 decided to reactivate the dormant anti-conversion law enacted by the Assem¬bly in 2003. A statement issued later said that the Government was of the view that without affecting freedom of religion as enshrined in the Constitution, it was necessary to stop all religious conversions through inducements or threats in the larger national interest.
Responding to the Governor’s decision to return the amend¬ment Bill, the Government said that it was brought with the intention of preventing divisions within those religions which have their origin in the country. “The issues raised by the Governor would be studied exhaustively, and the Government would determine the next step in time following constitutional guidance from experts”, the note said.
Flutter over BJP president’s remarks on RSS
There was a flutter in the BJP and RSS last week over party chief Rajnath Singh’s remarks in an interview with an English weekly that the RSS was influencing crucial appointments in the party. He said the RSS had played a role in the ouster of Naren¬dra Modi from the Central Parliamentary Board as well as the removal of Arun Jaitley as the chief spokesperson in the reshuf¬fle he effected earlier this year.
Dismayed over the reaction to his remarks, the BJP president had to spend part of the week doing some fire-fighting. While he spoke to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and party general secretary Arun Jaitley on phone, the party president went to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s residence to explain the position. The BJP on July 31 sent out a written denial of some remarks attributed to Rajnath Singh. For the RSS which claims that it does not interfere in BJP matters, it is embar¬rassing that the BJP leadership reveals that the party is con¬trolled by the RSS. The BJP said Rajnath Singh’s observations were ‘deliberately distorted.’
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