BJP battles army of outspoken leaders

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is facing the embarrassment of senior leaders questioning the party’s faulty strategy that led to its defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, has found the ultimate villain in Sudheendra Kulkarni, political advisor to L K Advani, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the recent polls.

“Till May 16, Kulkarni was privy to all that was happening inside the party and next day he suddenly transforms himself into a journalist,” said party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy, referring to his write-up in a magazine, which was critical of the BJP’s election campaign. “He was in an advisory role to the party and, therefore, his criticism is unacceptable.”

The attack on Kulkarni, who is not a BJP member and is close to Advani, comes in the wake of the rising tide of dissension and groupism within the BJP after its inability to hold an open debate on the poll debacle.

The tension has significantly increased as the party prepares for a meeting of its national executive, which is likely to be stormy. The two-day meeting starts June 19.

Though Rudy pointed out that BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley, too, had expressed his opinion on the outcome of election through a media column, he said he did not break any rule. “Jaitley (unlike Kulkarni) had not pointed fingers at any leaders and had just analysed the outcome of the elections,” he said.

However, at present, the BJP’s biggest embarrassment comes from senior leader Jaswant Singh’s veiled criticism of Advani and second-rung leaders close to him and the contents of his leaked letter on the party’s failure to assess the poll outcome. However, BJP leaders appear to be in no mood to take on Singh, who despite hailing from Rajasthan had won election from a West Bengal constituency.

“There is no question of taking action against Jaswantji, who is a senior party leader,” Rudy said, debunking speculations about the party contemplating action against him.

Again, the BJP has decided to ignore relatively junior leader Vinay Katiyar’s open defiance of the party’s line of the proposed Women’s Reservation Bill. Katiyar had openly opposed the BJP’s support for the Bill is the present form, and asked for a “vote of conscience” on it. “We are a democratic party and cannot stifle the voice of our members,” Rudy, who claimed to have held discussions with party chief Rajnath Singh on this, told reporters.