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Cracks in BJP |
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Senior leader L.K. Advani was anointed as the BJP’s prime-ministerial candidate about a month ago, but this has not stopped bickerings in the party. Strains in the relationship between Advani and party president Rajnath Singh are already showing.
Observers say that constitution of a parallel core group by Advani to look at the challenge of fighting Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the one and a half years ahead is a move to erode party president Rajnath Singh’s authority. Significantly, the core group whose meeting was held last week includes, Adva¬ni’s close associates, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar and Sud¬hendra Kulkarni. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been included in the group constituted by Advani, perhaps to counter his non-inclusion in the party parliamentary board by Rajnath Singh.
In retaliation perhaps, Rajnath Singh sacked Rajasthan unit chief Mahesh Chandra Sharma widely seen as a protege of Advani. He was replaced by Om Mathur, who is close to the RSS.
This trigerred a crisis in the Rajasthan unit of the BJP with Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje complaining to Advani over the development.
The friction forced the party to issue a clarification on Thursday, Jan. 3, denying that there were any differences between Rajnath Singh and Advani over the appointment of Om Mathur as Rajasthan unit chief. Party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said there was no ambiguity in the organisation over the fact that Advani would lead the party in the next Lok Sabha elections. He said that any discussion or speculation about relations between Rajnath Singh amd Advani was ‘imaginary.’
Though the BJP denied that there was any crisis in Rajas¬than, there are reports that senior leader Sushma Swaraj played peace-maker on Friday, Jan. 4 when she accompanied State Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje to Rajnath Singh’s residence. The three had a discussion lasting almost an hour and a half.
There are reports that Vasundhra Raje has now been assured that the new state party chief will not interfere in the affairs of the State Government.
In a related development, Rajnath Singh has rejected demands from senior leader Ananth Kumar to replace Karnataka BJP presi¬dent D V Sadananda Gowda. B S Yeddiyurappa and Gowda are acting in tandem and Advani acolyte Kumar has been pressing hard for a new chief before the state moved to election mode. As was the case in Rajasthan, Rajnath Singh is toeing the RSS line here too. Sadananda Gowda is considered close to the powers that be in the RSS. Ananth Kumar even went to the extent of staying away from a party rally addressed by Rajnath Singh in Raichur recently and leaders of his faction also boycotted it.
Observers say that during his two years as party president, Rajnath’s colleagues in the party have not accepted his authority and now the successor question being opened again, Rajnath Singh is trying to project himself as what L K Advani was to A B Vaj¬payee - steering the organisation, while Vajpayee took charge of electoral bid.
New Ministry takes office in Gujarat
An 18-member two-tier ministry was sworn in on Friday, Jan. 4, in Gujarat under Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Nine of the Ministers are of Cabinet rank.
Modi has introduced some new faces and dropped some members of his previous Cabinet who have been re-elected. There are changes in portfolios too. Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma adminis¬tered the oath of office and secrecy to the Ministers.
Modi has dropped senior leader Ashok Bhatt from the minis¬try. Bhatt, who was re-elected from Khadia for the eighth conse¬cutive time, had found a berth in the Cabinet ever since the BJP came to power in the State in 1995. A close confidant of the Chief Minister, Bhatt was the Health Minister in the previous Ministry. Party sources, however, said he was likely to be made the Speaker.
Another surprise omission was that of the Minister of State for Industries, Anil Patel.While six more re-elected members of the last Cabinet did not find a berth this time, Modi has induct¬ed nine new faces.
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