T
he party which dreamt of ruling the nation till four months ago is today crippled by its internal bickering. The Bharatiya Janata Party today does not possess any of the quality to lead the country. Its leaders under attack from party colleagues, the BJP today is more like a bunch of unruly politicians than a disciplined party. The crisis within the BJP has deepened to such an extent that the Sangh Parivaar had to issue an instruction asking the BJP leaders to put its house in order and work unitedly. There has also been speculations that a succession plan is being prepared by the RSS and the Sangh would soon ask both Advani and president Rajnath Singh to quit. Though both the RSS and the BJP have denied any such plan being prepared, the recent developments have given enough indication that the two parties are just buying time to pave way for a graceful exit of the two leaders. The fact that all is not well within the BJP camp has become open after some of the party’s leaders and ex-leaders chose to wash their dirty linen in public ever since former defence minister Jaswant Singh was expelled. The target of all were the same, the party’s patriarch Lal Krishna Advani. From Jaswant Singh to Arun Shourie to Sudheendra Kulkarni to Brajesh Mishra, all were targeting Advani, who is often referred to as the party’s iron man. Ever since Jaswant Singh was expelled, Advani has been targeted by those who were opposed to the treatment meted out to Singh. The first to open his mouth was Sudheendra Kulkarni, a close aide of Advani. Soon to follow him was Arun Shourie, who said that the party showed double standard in the case of Advani when he praised Mohd Ali Jinnah in Pakistan a few years ago. Shourie also questioned the party’s leadership by comparing it with humty dumpty. Then former national security adviser Brajesh Mishra came with a startling revelation that Advani had lied before election when he said that he was unaware of Jaswant Singh’s decision to release three terrorists during the Kandahar episode. Finally, Sudheendra Kulkarni lift the lid off the Cash-for-vote scam during last year’s trust vote when he said that it was masterminded by Advani. Plagued by all these simultaneous attacks, Advani had to rush to his mentor, the Sabha Parivaar for advice. Advani on Saturday had rushed to meet RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat. The meeting came amidst speculations that the RSS has prepared a succession plan for the BJP. Not willing to open their cards just yet, both the BJP and RSS refuted media reports of a succession plan being put in place for the party. Nevertheless, the most popular view is that both Leader of Opposition LK Advani and party president Rajnath Singh would quit their respective positions within a strict timeframe and that Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley would replace them on respective positions. But, the tension within the saffron establishment is palpable. What is adding to the rumour mill is the separate meetings the RSS chief is holding with the various power centres. On Friday, he had first met party president Rajnath Singh and within hours he met a group of senior leaders comprising Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar. On Saturday, he met disgruntled former Uttarakhand CM BC Khanduri and then had a luncheon meeting with Advani’s long time competitor Murli Manohar Joshi. Although, the details are not yet clear but one thing is certain that the RSS is in the centre stage of all the discussions to bring the BJP out of its current mess. Incidentally, the top brass of the party, including Sushma Swaraj – Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha – joined other party colleagues on Saturday morning at the residence of LK Advani to reportedly discuss a viable succession plan. The RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat made an open appeal to the crisis-ridden BJP on Friday to put its house in order by working unitedly. Following the press conference, speculation was rife that a succession plan has been chalked out for the revival of the party. The party is in the midst of a crisis and adrift. Advani, who was already in the eye of a storm over revelations on the Kandahar episode, Jaswant Singh ‘telling all’ post his expulsion over the Jinnah book, and Arun Shourie attacking the party leadership calling it ‘Humpty Dumpty’ – now has been hit by another accusation by Jaswant that he was at the centre of the cash-for-vote episode that rocked the Parliament during trust vote of UPA government last year. It remains to be seen whether the saffron party becomes able to survive this crisis or it succumbs under pressure.
he party which dreamt of ruling the nation till four months ago is today crippled by its internal bickering. The Bharatiya Janata Party today does not possess any of the quality to lead the country. Its leaders under attack from party colleagues, the BJP today is more like a bunch of unruly politicians than a disciplined party. The crisis within the BJP has deepened to such an extent that the Sangh Parivaar had to issue an instruction asking the BJP leaders to put its house in order and work unitedly. There has also been speculations that a succession plan is being prepared by the RSS and the Sangh would soon ask both Advani and president Rajnath Singh to quit. Though both the RSS and the BJP have denied any such plan being prepared, the recent developments have given enough indication that the two parties are just buying time to pave way for a graceful exit of the two leaders. The fact that all is not well within the BJP camp has become open after some of the party’s leaders and ex-leaders chose to wash their dirty linen in public ever since former defence minister Jaswant Singh was expelled. The target of all were the same, the party’s patriarch Lal Krishna Advani. From Jaswant Singh to Arun Shourie to Sudheendra Kulkarni to Brajesh Mishra, all were targeting Advani, who is often referred to as the party’s iron man. Ever since Jaswant Singh was expelled, Advani has been targeted by those who were opposed to the treatment meted out to Singh. The first to open his mouth was Sudheendra Kulkarni, a close aide of Advani. Soon to follow him was Arun Shourie, who said that the party showed double standard in the case of Advani when he praised Mohd Ali Jinnah in Pakistan a few years ago. Shourie also questioned the party’s leadership by comparing it with humty dumpty. Then former national security adviser Brajesh Mishra came with a startling revelation that Advani had lied before election when he said that he was unaware of Jaswant Singh’s decision to release three terrorists during the Kandahar episode. Finally, Sudheendra Kulkarni lift the lid off the Cash-for-vote scam during last year’s trust vote when he said that it was masterminded by Advani. Plagued by all these simultaneous attacks, Advani had to rush to his mentor, the Sabha Parivaar for advice. Advani on Saturday had rushed to meet RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat. The meeting came amidst speculations that the RSS has prepared a succession plan for the BJP. Not willing to open their cards just yet, both the BJP and RSS refuted media reports of a succession plan being put in place for the party. Nevertheless, the most popular view is that both Leader of Opposition LK Advani and party president Rajnath Singh would quit their respective positions within a strict timeframe and that Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley would replace them on respective positions. But, the tension within the saffron establishment is palpable. What is adding to the rumour mill is the separate meetings the RSS chief is holding with the various power centres. On Friday, he had first met party president Rajnath Singh and within hours he met a group of senior leaders comprising Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar. On Saturday, he met disgruntled former Uttarakhand CM BC Khanduri and then had a luncheon meeting with Advani’s long time competitor Murli Manohar Joshi. Although, the details are not yet clear but one thing is certain that the RSS is in the centre stage of all the discussions to bring the BJP out of its current mess. Incidentally, the top brass of the party, including Sushma Swaraj – Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha – joined other party colleagues on Saturday morning at the residence of LK Advani to reportedly discuss a viable succession plan. The RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat made an open appeal to the crisis-ridden BJP on Friday to put its house in order by working unitedly. Following the press conference, speculation was rife that a succession plan has been chalked out for the revival of the party. The party is in the midst of a crisis and adrift. Advani, who was already in the eye of a storm over revelations on the Kandahar episode, Jaswant Singh ‘telling all’ post his expulsion over the Jinnah book, and Arun Shourie attacking the party leadership calling it ‘Humpty Dumpty’ – now has been hit by another accusation by Jaswant that he was at the centre of the cash-for-vote episode that rocked the Parliament during trust vote of UPA government last year. It remains to be seen whether the saffron party becomes able to survive this crisis or it succumbs under pressure.
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