The rifts in the BJP are becoming increasingly visible with president Rajnath Singh’s decisions being opposed and criticised.
The rifts in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are becoming increasingly visible in the run-up to the elections, with president Rajnath Singh’s decisions being opposed and criticised in the party.
As the dust settled on the controversy over the appointment of Sudhanshu Mittal as co-in charge for the elections in the Northeast, Mittal was also given charge of another state, Rajasthan. However, the BJP on Sunday officially refuted reports of Mittal’s appointment as party in-charge of the campaign in Rajasthan for the LS polls. “No appointment has been made, at least not in the party knowledge,” party spokesperson Siidarthnath Singh said when asked if Mittal had been appointed to the post.
BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley had protested Mittal’s appointment for the Northeast, calling him a wheeler-dealer. When Rajnath refused to relent, Jaitley was forced to fall in line.
Mittal has already visited Jaipur twice and participated in election work. Sources said Mittal took up the new assignment on Singh’s instructions, even as some of the party president’s decisions are being openly criticised by the LK Advani camp.
Notable among these is the induction of yet another “tainted” person, former Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Neera Yadav – the first IAS officer to enjoy the dubious distinction of being thrown out of her job on the orders of the Supreme Court.
Sudheendra Kulkarni, who heads Advani’s “war room” at Ananth Kumar’s residence, admitted that it was a mistake for the BJP to induct Yadav. Talking to a TV channel, Kulkarni said the party was embarrassed by her induction, and that many BJP leaders were unhappy with the decision.
The admission, coming from Advani’s campaign manager, is another indication of differences between the party president and the prime-ministerial candidate. Grilled over Yadav’s status in the party, spokesperson Prakash Javadekar stoutly refused to say anything more than an evasive, “I have not seen the membership rolls so I cannot say anything”.
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