New Delhi, March 19: A day after the BJP’s star MP, Mr Shatrughan Sinha, attacked party chief Nitin Gadkari over his new team, the saffron party’s Muslim face, Mr Shahnawaz Hussain, raised the banner of revolt and refused to attend a meeting of spokespersons called by Ms Sushma Swaraj
and Mr Arun Jaitley, Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, and BJP general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal on Friday.
Another leader from Bihar, former Union minister C.P. Thakur, also attacked Mr Gadkari, saying that the team was “not balanced”. At this juncture, with leaders from Bihar rising in revolt against a cornered Mr Gadkari, it appears that a battle is brewing within the BJP between leaders from Maharashtra and Bihar. Over 20 functionaries from Maharashtra have been incorporated in Mr Gadkari’s team. Mr Gadkari, a Maharashtrian brahmin, was handpicked by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, also from the same community, to lead the BJP.
However, if the Bihar brigade has come out openly against Mr Gadkari, Mr Prakash Javdekar, who is from Mr Gadkari’s home state, was also sulking. He too stayed away from the meeting of spokespersons. Sources disclosed that Mr Javdekar, a party spokesperson, was miffed over the appointment of Mr Ravishankar Prasad as chief spokesperson. Caught unaware by the reaction of his colleagues, Mr Gadkari told the media that it was “not possible for him to satisfy everyone”. Former chief minister of Uttarakhand B.C. Khanduri will also be meeting the party high command to register his protest, sources said.
One of the seven spokespersons, Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy, reacted on expected lines when asked about the resentment in the party and the reasons Mr Hussain and Mr Javdekar had stayed away from the meeting. “Mr Hussain is not well and Javdekar had already informed us,” he said and started talking about David Coleman Headley, accused of scouting 26/11 Mumbai attack targets.
Sources revealed that even Mr Rudy was not pleased over the “sudden emergence of Mr Prasad as the chief spokesperson” and was hopeful of getting a better post in the team.
Reacting against Mr Gadkari and his new team, Dr Thakur fumed: “The team is not balanced. Some senior leaders, who have done so much for the party, were neglected. I have been ignored.” Dr Thakur plans to talk to other party leaders on the issue. With the Bihar Assembly elections approaching, Dr Thakur feels there should have been adequate representation of office-bearers from the state. Joining the chorus, another leader from Bihar, Purnia MP Uday Singh, also lodged a complaint with the party leadership.
Mr Shatrughan Sinha, who was the first to target Mr Gadkari, continued with his attack on Friday. He said the BJP chief has ignored leaders like Yashwant Sinha, B.C. Kanduri, C.P. Thakur, Uday Singh and himself, who won the Lok Sabha polls with large margins.
Mr Sinha, however, clarified that he was speaking out only for the “good of the party”. Mr Sinha also stayed away from the BJP workers’ meet in Patna on Thursday.
An angry Mr Shatrughan Sinha told the media: “I was in Patna on March 14 and 15. Nobody had the courtesy to inform me about the March 18 meeting though it was planned in advance.” Mr Sinha, one of the main vote catchers of the BJP, made it clear he was not going to “compromise with his dignity”. He said the party was trying to sideline him because of some other leaders in the NDA.
Age Correspondent
