New Delhi, July 11: Was the BJP president, Mr Nitin Gadkari, against participation in the July 5 Bharat bandh due to his commitment to attend party training camps in Mumbai? While the BJP has officially refuted this, there are strong whispers in saffron circles that the senior leader, Mr L.K. Advani, and the Leader of the Opposition, Ms Sushma Swaraj, had to prevail upon him to give priority to the Bharat bandh over his training camps.
Sources said that when the Janata Dal (U) chief, Mr Sharad Yadav, had first raised the question of a Bharat bandh, Mr Gadkari had appeared reluctant, saying he had some commitments in Mumbai.
Finally, Mr Advani and Ms Swaraj had to intervene and talk of a “big political opportunity”, and it was “only then that Mr Gadkari relented”, said a senior party leader.
While there is finger-pointing at the party chief on the Bharat bandh issue, other senior leaders are said to be feeling increasingly sidelined in party affairs — including Ms Swaraj herself, besides Mr Rajnath Singh, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Mr Gopinath Munde and Mr Ram Lal.
The Gadkari group, which is said to be playing an active role, includes Mr Ananth Kumar, Mr Dharmendra Pradhan, Mr Kirit Somaiya and Mr Vijay Goel.
Mr Kumar is, however, facing considerable flak from rival factions for his perceived “failure” to handle the Bihar crisis.
A senior party leader said: “He is in charge of the state, (but) remained missing during the entire crisis. And when the crisis was being sorted out, he complicated the issue by inviting Mr Narendra Modi to Bihar for campaigning.”
It is alleged that the Gadkari faction has “no clue” about what is happening in that state.
“All the leaders who had been leading the BJP from the front in its critical period have been completely marginalised and are not being given any importance whatsoever,” a party leader said.
Mr Gadkari was also accused of giving prominence to the Maharashtra lobby, with the exception of Mr Munde.