BJP to back embattled leaders to the hilt

In the days to come, expect a more cohesive and aggressive defence by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, and Union ministers Sushma Swaraj and Smriti Irani. The BJP has decided not to ask any of its leaders to resign on the basis of "specious unproven facts". The party and the Narendra Modi-led government are also prepared to let the Monsoon session get washed out.

On Friday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley met Prime Minister Modi and, later, BJP chief Amit Shah. The three leaders strategised the party and government's defence of their embattled leaders. They agreed that none of their ministers, including Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde, would quit in the face of the concerted Congress attack as well as "campaigns" by "particular" television channels.

As the first sign of this new strategy, Raje will now attend Saturday's Niti Aayog meeting to discuss Centrally Sponsored Schemes.

Her attendance was doubtful because of the controversy raging over her helping former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi.

According to a PTI report, Raje dismissed media reports surrounding her, including that of a signature campaign by 120 party MLAs in her support, on Friday. Jaitley's meetings with the Modi and Shah, it is learnt, also helped the three discuss their mutual concerns and grievances. The assessment in the party is that the BJP's engagement with the media, ever since the government was formed, has suffered. Party chief Shah and his predecessor Rajnath Singh are politicians more comfortable with the rough and tumble of electoral politics than engaging with the media. They are also the kind of leaders convinced that Delhi-based media has no impact on election results.

However, the current controversy, the leadership now concedes, exposed the limitations of neglecting media engagement. With a clear line of defence not decipherable, BJP spokespersons either came across as confused in their approach in defending Swaraj and Raje, or were too aggressive but lacked cohesive arguments.

In the days to come, this lacuna is likely to be addressed with Jaitley in the lead.

The government and the party's defence of its leaders will hinge on demanding legally admissible evidence against its leaders from the Opposition. The government is also certain that it will be able to isolate the Congress and the Left parties in Parliament, with most regional parties unlikely to be that vociferous on the issue.

The party leadership is also convinced that asking either Raje or any of its ministers to quit will be an admission of guilt that will stick to the party and the government in public perception. It is also seen to be bad politically. Insiders point out how the BJP lost Karnataka by forcing its leader B S Yeddyurappa to quit. It repeated the mistake with its Uttarakhand leader Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', again to lose the state and how it had asked Madan Lal Khurana to quit as chief minister of Delhi and hasn't recovered ground in the past 17 years. Something similar could happen in Rajasthan or even Madhya Pradesh where Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been accused by the Congress of corruption.

In comparison, Modi never apologised for the Gujarat riots of 2002 and always backed his ministers in trouble - Amit Shah, Maya Kodnani and Babubhai Bokhiria.