Monday, February 07, 2011

Anil Pandey goes into the actions and minds of the BJP top brass and finds more factionalism and disunity than ever before

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It's been seven months since Nitin Gadkari took over as president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)। When he was hand-picked by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for the job, the move, it was thought, would lead to stability in a party that was marred by infighting. It may appear that Gadkari has been successful in his endeavour. The big guns of the party, who were ready to reach for each other's throat on any pretext, appear subdued. It seems that all of them have fallen in line to work together under Gadkari. But this is far from true.

Masquerading behind their docile appearances, the big guns of BJP have spread the chessboard and have indulged in all sorts of political posturing to secure political gains. Behind the close doors of the party office, instead of changing the dipping fortune of the party, these leaders are busy in serving their personal cause and unseating others. And these satraps are not ready to heed any request or threat. Neither Gadkari nor the RSS is able to control them and make them fall in line. Gadkari, brought in by the RSS to change the face of the party, is proving to be a weak skipper. The situation has deteriorated to a point where the Advani camp has openly started calling the shots by clearly outflanking and outwitting Gadkari and company.

Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu and Anant Kumar, collectively called D-4, who were held responsible for the infighting by the RSS, and were to be slighted under Gadkari by gradual withdrawal of powers, have actually emerged as more powerful in his tenure. Advani and Co. have completely overpowered Gadkari's camp in day to day functioning of the party.

For example, the decision to boycott Manmohan Singh's dinner was taken by Advani alone. Gadkari, reportedly, was not taken into confidence. Advani consulted Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. In another instance, on the matter of caste-based Census, it was Advani who decided not to oppose the move. Gadkari was not even informed about the decision. It was clear that neither the RSS nor Gadkari was in favour of this decision. It has become evident that the decision was not taken with the party president's consent. According to the party constitution, the party president is the final authority on any matter. But in BJP, there are several parallel centres of power. The Advani camp seems to be working with a single-point agenda of unsettling Gadkari, the RSS darling. The motive here is clear. If Gadkari proves to be unsuccessful, the RSS will not have a say in the next elections and it would become easier for the Advani camp to install their man at the top. Similarly, Jaitley, Swaraj, Narendra Modi, Anant Kumar, Venkaiah Naidu and Rajnath Singh have emerged as new power centres in the party. And in spite of clear instructions from Mohan Bhagwat, these leaders are busy scuttling the prospects of their rivals rather than providing collective leadership to the party.

The man who is really hot property in the party these days is Advani's darling Arun Jaitley. Jaitley has pulled the strings and has made his close aides party presidents in the electorally important states of Delhi, UP and Bihar. The competence levels of these leaders are questionable. For example, Bihar BJP president C. P. Thakur and UP president Surya Pratap Shahi have no mass base. Cadres have started questioning Gadkari over these appointments. Such is Jaitley's hold that when Gadkari asked BJP's former secretary Sanjay Joshi to conduct a pre-poll survey in Bihar, the later declined saying that it was a futile effort as when the tickets will be distributed, only Jaitley's men will get them.

Earlier, Advani was considered the big man and these satraps nothing more than his lackeys. But they have grown up to become independent and rather assertive. Talking to TSI, Subhro Kamal Dutta says, 'The big guns are putting up a show that all is well inside the party but the fact remains that it is still factionalism-ridden. The old faction stays. RSS had hoped that Gadkari will curb D-4's power but it appears that he has come under the spell of Advani and Co. too.'

Jaitley and Narendra Modi share excellent camaraderie. But both see themselves as the future PM. While Jaitley wants to play the moderate card by posing himself as the natural successor to Vajpayee, Modi definitely considers himself as the legitimate political heir of Advani. As a lawyer, Jaitley is deeply respected both by party as well as the RSS. Whenever the party or the RSS gets into trouble, Jaitley is the most sought after man. It is to clip his wings that Narendra Modi forced the party offer the Rajya Sabha seat to Ram Jethmalani. Jaitley used all tricks to stop Jethmalani but in the end, Modi had the last laugh. The lotus wilts But Jaitley decided to play a different game. He started wooing Uma Bharti back to the party. By doing this, he is serving two purposes. Uma's return will erode Swaraj's chances whom Jaitley considers one of his rivals. Similarly, Uma's firebrand Hindutva style will counter the unbridled popularity of Modi. Politics indeed makes strange bedfellows. When Uma left the party, she had accused Jaitley of indulging in 'drawing room' politics and planting stories in media.

On the other hand, under the changed circumstances, Advani's bete noire Rajnath Singh has joined hands with Swaraj. To counter Jaitley, both of them have started courting Gadkari. Another of Advani's aides, Anant Kumar, has limited aspirations. He just wants to become the Karnataka chief minister. For that, he is hatching a conspiracy with the Reddy brothers and other mining mafia groups to oust Yedurappa. Anant was considered close to Jaitley at one point of time. But Jaitley has refused to help him in his latest endeavour. Anant promptly joined Sushma's bandwagon and, on her insistence, is opposing Bharti's return to the party.

Interestingly, many RSS pracharaks are also part of the game. Gadkari wanted the astute Sanjay Joshi to be his organisation secretary instead of Ramlal. This is the same Sanjay Joshi who was implicated in a sex CD row by the BJP and was unceremonially shown the door. His return to the party was scuttled by Ramlal who also clipped the wings of another RSS darling Murlidhar Rao. The young and energetic Rao is considered as Govindacharya's replacement by a section of RSS. In two decades, Rao has not only strengthened the Swadeshi Jagran Manch but has also raised a dedicated follower base in the country. But instead of being given bigger responsibilities, he was appointed as a secretary and sidelined. Similarly, pracharak Vamancharya, who was taking care of Gadkari's dream project Antyodaya, was dropped by Ramlal because he was giving more importance to Rao and not Ramlal. To counter Ramlal, his aide and office in-charge Shayam Jaju was implicated by the Sanjay Joshi camp in a counterfeit PAN card and tax evasion case.

Gadkari wanted to change the character and face of the party. He had promised that he would give priority to cadres and not highflyers. But things did not go as planned. A young BJP leader says, 'Everybody knows the report cards of Hema Malini, Smriti Irani, Vani Tripathi, Anurag Thakur and Navjot Singh Sidhu. But they are still there. Gadkari's actions do not match his words. Cadres and grass root leaders were jubilant on his election but they are down and out now.'

Even the RSS has realised Gadkari's failure. That is why, it called a coordination meeting with the BJP at the Delhi residence of Goa MP Shripad Naik on June 29. In the meeting, the Sangh made it clear to the BJP that it would have to stick to the RSS agenda. It also wants Uma and Sanjay back into the party fold. But the Advani camp is not relenting. The RSS never wanted Jaswant Singh back but Advani brought Singh back. Gadkari, it seems, has turned into a mute spectator as the game unfolds.

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