While one section of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) feels that the newly-elected party chief Nitin Gadkari should opt to be a member of the Rajya Sabha following the tradition. Gadkari himself has reiterated that he would not contest any Parliamentary election for the next three years. He will also continue being member of the State Legislature Council for technical reasons.
According to a senior leader from the state BJP, the party president has always been a member of either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. “It helps in better coordination and monitoring with party members within the houses. The coordination between party leadership and Parliamentary affairs is very important,” he said.
Another hitch, if Gadkari chooses to opt to become member of the Rajya Sabha, is that the party will lose the majority in the council, subsequently losing out on the leader’s post. “The Sena and we have equal number of members in the council. If Gadkari resigns from the council our number will decline and we will have to give up the post of the Opposition leader. That is the reason Gadkari will continue to remain the member of the council,” the leader said.
Gadkari, during his first visit to the state headquarters after becoming BJP president on Saturday.
Gadkari and the newly-appointed deputy leader of BJP Gopinath Munde were given a warm welcome by the state unit on Saturday. Gadkari later told reporters that he will meet Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday as per the Thackeray’s convenience. “For him, I am only Nitin Gadkari and not the president of the BJP.”
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