When four BJP elders went into a huddle at Murli Manohar Joshi’s house on Christmas eve, another stinging statement was expected. But, as news of the meeting spread in the media, the option of a statement was ticked off.
Their first joint statement, in which they took on the party leadership after the BJP’s Bihar debacle, had sparked off a flutter. So the silence after the second meeting, a day after party MP Kirti Azad was suspended, left it open to speculation on what was brewing.
What had continued to worry the four leaders–LK Advani, MM Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar– was the ‘lack of a consensual’ character in the BJP’s style of functioning, according to one of the leaders. One of the options the leaders explored was taking up the matter with the party’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), sources familiar with the developments said.
The leaders also felt that the Modi government had taken ‘U-turns’ on stands taken by the party and Sangh on issues like approach to Pakistan, WTO negotiations at the Doha round, FDI in multi-brand retail and Genetically Modified (GM) crops.
They were of the view that while electoral defeats and victories would come and go, the important question was whether the consensual character in BJP’s style of functioning will be reverted or it would continue to be a “show of a handful”.
Joshi is understood to have been to Nagpur, though it’s not known whether the concerns of the party elders were flagged with RSS leaders.
However, there also appeared to be an acknowledgment sinking down among the veterans that neither the RSS brass nor those in positions of power in the BJP were in any mood to upset the apple cart. Besides, the Sangh would refrain from making any move that could give fuel to the Opposition to target the Modi government, sources said.
The leaders’ statement issued after the Bihar result did not name anyone but was apparently targeting Amit Shah, who is all set to be re-elected as party president for a full-fledged term. With Shah having the blessings of the RSS, even the elders, particularly Advani and Joshi, would be reluctant to oppose it.
The Sangh, on its part, wants the party to ensure that Shah’s new team of office bearers would have credible faces, sources said. With the BJP in power at the Centre, several of its senior leaders are in government and the party, on several occasions, relies on ministers to hold press conferences on crucial matters. The party would have to bring in young leaders from states, they said.
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 "Advani Yashwant Sinha and Murli Manohar Joshi")
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