BJP gets pause for thought
Scam-tainted former Uttar Pradesh minister Babu Singh Kushwaha on Saturday virtually obliged the BJP by writing to party chief Nitin Gadkari asking him to put his membership on hold till he is cleared of charges.
The BJP had inducted Mr Kushwaha, an OBC leader, on January 3 after party chief Nitin Gadkari gave his nod. Mr Kushwaha, once a close confidant of BSP supremo and UP CM Mayawati, is facing a CBI probe in the multicrore NRHM scam. While his induction divided the party with some MPs publicly criticising the leadership’s decision, opposition parties also targeted the BJP for taking in a scam-tainted politician.
Even the RSS was miffed. Sources said senior leaders like Mr L.K. Advani, Ms Sushma Swaraj and Mr M.M. Joshi have expressed their reservations about campaigning for party candidates with criminal antecedents, but BJP national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain denied this.
In his letter to Mr Gadkari, Mr Kushwaha said he is being victimised by the UP government and the Congress-led government at the Centre through the CBI. Claiming he is ready for a probe by an independent agency, Mr Kushwaha said the BJP’s name is being dragged deliberately into the “political conspiracy” against him and, therefore, he wants the BJP to put his membership on hold.
A majority section within the party is of the view that Mr Kushwaha’s induction has dented the anti-corruption stand of the main Opposition party.
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