Whenever there is infighting in Bhartiya Janata Party, Lucknow can never be far behind.
Posters supporting former party general secretary Sanjay Joshi, and denouncing Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, have started appearing on the Lucknow skyline with a message that says, “Sanjay Joshi tum sangharsh karo, hum tumhare saath hai.” The banners also question the importance being given to Mr Modi with, “Ek ka balidaan, ek ko samman, kya yehi hai BJP ki riti, niti aur pehchaan?”
The posters have been sponsored by those vaguely referred to as “BJP Karyakarta”.
Interestingly, the posters have come up after Mr Joshi issued an appeal on the BJP letterhead saying that “Though this appears to be the job of conspirators, I appeal to all my well-wishers, supporters and those have sympathies for me not to put up any posters, take out any pamphlets, or hold demonstrations for me.” Talking to this correspondent, a senior party functionary said that the poster campaign was being encouraged by those who have a stake in national politics and are wary of Mr Modi’s possible emergence as a prime ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha elections.
“Those leaders who fancy themselves as prime ministerial candidates are the ones behind this campaign and there are no prizes for guessing who it is. Sanjay Joshi is merely a pawn in this power play and probably does not even known that he enjoys such ‘cast support’ in Lucknow,” said a former BJP state president in a tone laced with sarcasm.
State BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai, meanwhile, said that the posters were a part of a conspiracy to malign the image of the party. “This is irrelevant because Sanjay Joshi is not out of the party and is very much an active member of the organisation,” he said. Meanwhile, posters have been put up without the mandatory permission of the municipal corporation. “Such posters are always put up without necessary permission since that would lead to identification of the person responsible for it. We have been busy with local bodies’ elections and will soon remove all illegally erected posters,” said a corporation official.