New Delhi, April 21
The purpose of veteran BJP leader Yashwant Sinha’s resignation from active politics may have been to create a few squirming moments for the “new BJP leadership”, primarily PM Narendra Modi and chief Amit Shah.
However, leaders claim “no damage, difference or embarrassment” either to the party or the PM about whom Sinha was most critical while departing.
“Sinha, the most vocal critic of new BJP leadership, was spoiling for a fight for long and wanted to be expelled so that he could play the martyr,” a BJP leader claimed.
“Shah refused to comply, leaving Sinha with no other option but to announce acrimonious exit from the party, which once gave him the opportunity to sit on the famed Raisina Hill and head the Finance Ministry. He also seemed to be also unmindful of the fact that his son (Jayant Sinha) is a member of the Modi government,” he said.
It remains to be seen whether in the run-up to the 2019 polls, Yashwant Sinha will be followed by other sidelined leaders. Among those who have openly supported him is actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who said he was not going anywhere.
As per BJP leaders, Shatrughan is unlikely to quit as of now. Regarding speculation about other disgruntled veterans — two “margdarshak mandal” members LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi — following suit, they term it a “highly impossible possibility”. — TNS