New Delhi, June 10
The blame game in the BJP over the party’s debacle in recent elections, is getting serious and acrimonious with party leaders openly questioning the leadership and directly or implicitly accusing the camp followers of Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani.
A meeting of the Core Group of the party held at Advani’s residence this evening is reported to have turned eventful with senior leaders Jaswant Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi questioning the propriety of rewarding Advani and party general secretary Arun Jaitley with responsible posts, despite being responsible for BJP’s defeat.
While formally party president Rajnath Singh refused to comment former president M Venkiah Naidu merely said that, “Jaswant Singh has raised certain crucial issues.”
Sources, however, indicated that Singh, supported by Joshi, reportedly said there is no proper introspection in the party about its defeat and losses. He also impressed that there has to be a proper connection between rewards and results.
He was obviously raising an accusing finger both at Advani himself who was rewarded with reapointment as Leader of Opposition despite leading the party to a humiliating defeat and his protégé, party general secretary Arun Jaitley, appointed by Advani as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. By contrast Jaswant Singh himself recorded a spectacular victory in West Bengal and got nothing.
Similarly, Joshi won in Varanasi against Mukhtar Ansari but was completely ignored and sidelined, rewarding Jaitley, chief manager of his election campaign and Sushma Swaraj, whose victory from Vidisha was no great shakes since there was no one to oppose her.
There seemed to be an inkling in the party what was in store at the Core Group meet, for a party insider characterised it in a lighter vein as “Zero Hour” expecting to see there the chaos and confusion that prevails in Parliament during Zero Hour.
Actually sparks started flying in the BJP earlier at its first parliamentary party meeting yesterday. Party sources said, important leaders and MPs questioned the propriety of Advani’s close confidant Sudheendra Kulkarni publicly blaming RSS and BJP leadership for the party’s defeat.
Sources said a former minister wondered how someone like Sudheendra Kulkarni so intimately involved with the party campaign and strategy during the elections could now turn around and lay the blame at the doorstep of others.
He said, “Those who were chief planners of the election campaign are now writing articles accusing everyone about the debacle.” BJP president Rajnath agreed with this.
Another member wondered what was the use of holding national executive (scheuled for June 20 and 21 in the Parliament annexe) if it could not dissect electoral performance. But Rajnath reportedly refused to include electoral debacle in the national executive agenda.
He, however, agreed to set up a three-member committee to study the reasons behind the defeat on the condition that it would be a well-kept secret, to which Maneka Gandhi asked what was the point of appointing the committee if the MPs and others in the party were not informed because then most MPs and other party activists would not be able to speak to these members on record and express their feelings and understanding of the defeat.
