BJP plans price stir, RSS scripts new ‘softer’ line
Indore, Feb. 19: Senior BJP leader L.K. Advani finally got back at his detractors within the party on the concluding day of the BJP national executive here on Friday. He virtually blamed the party’s debacle in the 2009 general election on infighting and disunity within party ranks.
On the other hand, BJP president Nitin Gadkari gave a call to party workers for a "Delhi chalo" agitation on April 21 to protest against spiralling prices. The party also announced a gherao of Parliament on April 21 over the price rise issue, on which it is planning to launch a national movement. The party also came up with the battle cry — "Mahangai roko, nahi to gaddi chodo (Stop price rise or quit)."
In his valedictory address on Friday, Mr Advani admitted that the perception that the BJP was not a "united house ... had disillusioned party supporters and workers and was responsible for the disappointing outcome". He went on to add: "In my view, no factor hurt us more in the last parliamentary elections than the public image that the BJP was not a united house."
It may be recalled that even as the RSS virtually endorsed Mr Advani as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, infighting had erupted within the party. Differences over the ideological line taken by then BJP president Rajnath Singh and Mr Advani also came out into the open.
Sources here have said, meanwhile, that new BJP chief Nitin Gadkari’s move to woo Muslims was actually scripted by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Mr Bhagwat, after taking charge as sarsanghchalak , had indicated that the RSS should now modify its traditionally aggressive Hindutva stance and adopt a more liberal line. The Sangh Parivar’s big brother felt such a shift in stance, accompanied by an intensified effort to reach out to dalits, could help the BJP gain an additional 10 per cent voteshare.
If Mr Gadkari insisted on a softer line, Mr Advani was in a mood to express his angst while also displaying flashes of his hawkish line. He cautioned: "I wish to warn New Delhi — if there is any move to grant autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, the Government of India would be inviting the biggest political confrontation Free India has seen." And, still smarting over the RSS having eased him out as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mr Advani said despite this, his "political career has not come to an end". For the record, though, he has endorsed the general shift in the BJP line.
During the three-day executive session, the BJP decided to take on the government over internal security, rising prices and the move to grant reservations on the basis of religion in the wake of the Ranganath Misra Commission report suggesting quotas for dalit Muslims and Chrisitians. Mr Adavni also attacked the Congress for "cheating people".
YOJNA GUSAI
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