Saffron battles

Till the BJP’s surprise defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, it was more or less settled that Arun Jaitley would succeed Rajnath Singh as the BJP president. But following his appointment as the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, a number of ambitious leaders have thrown their hats into the ring. There’s Venkiah Naidu but he was tried and found wanting as party president a few years ago. He also had his eye on the post of the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha but lost to Jaitley. Another is Sushma Swaraj. She, however, stands little chance given her lack of organisational skills and a modern world-view.