Race for BJP President's post takes a curious turn
New Delhi | Saturday, Nov 21 2009 IST
 

The race for the next BJP president's post has taken a curious turn with a powerful section asserting itself against the 'micro managing' of party matters even as the RSS, the ideological big brother, has indicated its strong preference for the candidature of Maharashtra BJP leader Nitin Gadkari. The proxy battle by the backers of autonomy which has the implicit backing of Leader of Opposition L K Advani and the RSS supremacy has been taking place both on and off the public domain, political observers said. Mr Gadkari made a dramatic entry into the party headquarters to discuss about Maharashtra polls with Mr Ramlal, the RSS nominee manning the post of General Secretary (Organisation). He openly admitted that he would not shy away from any responsibility entrusted to him by the party. He has given a clear indication to the party that he has total backing of the RSS to succeed Mr Rajnath Singh as the next president. However, the four Delhi based leaders--Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, M Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar--who wield enormous clout in the party have come out openly stating that no name had been finalised so far, indicating that the battle for the post was not over yet. This would mean that they would want two of their nominees Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi or Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Jaitley to be the next party chief. There has also been the name of senior Uttar Pradesh leader Kalraj Mishra doing the rounds.

While Mrs Swaraj has claimed that she had declined the BJP chief's post when it was offered to her, Mr Naidu has formally stated that he was not in the race nor was he interested in becoming the party president again. The process of consultation is on and there will be unanimous choice of the next president at an appropriate time, he has said in a statement.

'' The BJP and the RSS do share an ideological bond. But structurally and functionally we are independent and autonomous. The same has been repeatedly emphasised at the highest level by the RSS as well as by the BJP,'' Mr Naidu asserted. About Mr Advani's intention to demit office without completing his tenure in the 15th Lok Sabha, he said, "the party is keen to have his leadership and guidance and will go by his choice about the time and person." Speculation in the media that Mr Advani had been given a deadline to quit his post had adversely affected the party's image, he added. Mr Rajnath Singh, who is believed to have sought RSS intervention, has expressed his desire to hand over the baton to his successor ahead of his term ending. Since all the top posts are manned by one community (Brahmins), his supporters are hoping that the post will go to some other caste. There has also been an effort to bring back leaders like former Chief Ministers Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh back into the party fold for widening its electoral base.

-- (UNI) -- 21DI33.xml

 

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