The growing differences within the BJP came to the fore when three senior leaders, including Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, chose to skip the party national executive meet that commenced Saturday. Former Karnataka CM B.S. Yeddyurappa and Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, recently ousted as Uttarakhand CM, also did not turn up.
While Mr Modi, it was learnt, is unhappy with senior leader L.K. Advani’s Janchetna Yatra, he is also miffed over the responsibilities given to former BJP general secretary Sanjay Joshi, his political adversary, by the party top brass. Mr Joshi is likely to be inducted into the BJP national executive along with Ms Uma Bharti. He has also been given the responsibility of managing Sangh Parivar cadre in the run-up to the UP Assembly polls. Mr Modi’s disagreement led Mr Advani to shift his yatra’s starting point from Gujarat to Sitabdiara in Bihar.
The BJP tried to downplay Mr Modi’s absence, maintaining that he fasts during Navratra and, therefore, could not attend. The official reasons cited for Mr Yeddyurappa’s absence were byelections in Karnataka and his wife’s death anniversary. Sources disclosed that Mr Yeddyurappa is still sulking over his ouster as Karnataka CM over corruption charges. Mr Pokhriyal is also angry with the BJP leadership for replacing him as Uttarakhand CM with Mr B.C. Khanduri. Senior BJP leader M.M. Joshi claimed there was no infighting in the BJP and that instead there was “infighting in the Congress”.
Though most of the BJP brass refrained from commenting on who will be the party’s candidate for PM, party leader in charge of Gujarat Balbir Punj said Mr Modi will “prove to be the best PM in the history of the country”. Asked whether the party would project Mr Advani or Mr Modi for the top post, Mr Punj said, “... the people of the nation will decide”. On the other hand, Mr Vinay Katiyar said, “There are lots of problems in Gujarat. Modiji is doing good work but he should first look at his own state and try to improve the situation.” The BJP, meanwhile, continued attacking the UPA government on corruption and price rise. Party president Nitin Gadkari maintained that the UPA suffers from a “crisis of credibility”.