The silent rift has widened into a gaping hole in the last couple of months as embarrassed leaders wash the party’s dirty linen in public.
Gujarat chief minister’s face-off with BJP’s central leadership and president Nitin Gadkari over re-induction of Sanjay Joshi into the party fold at an important position in Uttar Pradesh is over six months old now. Soon after, he had had fallout with his mentor LK Advani which does not seem to have mended either.
Contrary to party functionaries’ hopes and prayers, matters seem to be getting worse with each passing day. After snubbing the party by boycotting the national executive council meeting in September last year, the BJP’s PM-in-waiting did not step out of Gujarat at all to campaign in crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur. This is despite him being on the BJP’s list of ‘star campaigners’ only after LK Advani as well as BJP leaders Gadkari, Arun Jaitley and spokesperson Mukhatar Abbas Naqvi categorically stating that “Modi will campaign in UP, dates are being worked out”.
The silent rift has widened into a gaping hole in the last couple of months as embarrassed leaders wash the party’s dirty linen in public. Gadkari’s remark on Modi being a prime ministerial candidate was followed by retractions of he being ‘among’ the candidates for the position and the latest on Saturday itself praising Modi’s arch rival Sanjay Joshi for his work in UP.
According to media reports, Arun Jaitley has even admitted to “differences within the BJP over Joshi”. Gadkari has been trying hard to play down Modi’s snub, but it has been learnt that the RSS too has disapproved of Modi’s defiance and arrogance.
While Advani crisscrossed Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Modi stayed put in Gujarat - first on the pretext of pre-scheduled Sadbhavana fasts till mid-February; later planning for Budget and in the last week, due to the assembly session. However, sources close to him assessing the situation, confided the weekends were free and he could have gone. A source keen to see Modi as the PM is a worried man these days.
“He had issues with Joshi planning his schedule and campaign trail in UP as is the norm generally for visiting campaigners. He refused to comply and the party treated it as yet another show of indiscipline and refused to relent. He wants to make a resounding point that he cannot be treated lightly. We just hope he does not go overboard,” he said.
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