Recently, RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat hit out at Janata Dal
(United) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying, “To keep
alive the Hindutva ideology, the Hindu samaaj should come together. And
the country should have a Prime Minister, who believes in that ideology
or propounds that view.” It was not just a snub to Nitish Kumar, but it
also had a not-so-veiled message even for the BJP top-brass, which has
begun to see virtues in moderation and in dilution of the Hindutva
ideology. Rejecting any suggestions to put Hindutva on the backburner,
Mohan Bhagwat wants the BJP to commit itself to the core ideology. The
RSS Chief is firm: BJP needs to be Modi-fied.
Slowly but
gradually, after the Presidential elections, one would see a transformed
BJP, where the writ of Modi would guide the party, more than the
diktats of the Delhi-4 – Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar, Sushma Swaraj and
Arun Jaitley – who had taken upon themselves the onus to run the party.
The RSS, in fact, has not much of a choice for Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Among those, who are in the race, Advani has been tested twice; Arun Jaitley has never himself contested elections, though he is a good media manager and a backroom boy; and Sushma Swaraj, though a good orator, does not match the skills of Modi. Gadkari, however, lacks the political experience and the maturity to head the government.
Anita Saluja
“There is no dearth of leaders in the BJP. We have too many leaders. It is a bouquet and we will pick one flower from it when the need arises,” remarked BJP Spokesperson Prakash Javadekar last year on the leadership crisis in the party. In the bouquet, unfortunately, there were more thorns than flowers, with leaders busy undermining each other.
After the crucial BJP National Executive in Mumbai, the RSS has picked up one flower from the bouquet, Narendra Modi, who, it is felt, would spread fragrance of Hindutva ideology but the Allies are not so sure. BJP’s prominent ally, the Janata Dal (U), came out in the open to protest against his candidature for the Prime Minister’s post, which is two years away.
Recently, RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat hit out at Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying, “To keep alive the Hindutva ideology, the Hindu samaaj should come together. And the country should have a Prime Minister, who believes in that ideology or propounds that view.”
It was not just a snub to Nitish Kumar, but it also had a not-so-veiled message even for the BJP top-brass, which has begun to see virtues in moderation and in dilution of the Hindutva ideology. Rejecting any suggestions to put Hindutva on the backburner, Mohan Bhagwat wants the BJP to commit itself to the core ideology. The RSS Chief is firm: BJP needs to be Modi-fied.
The timing of JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar’s objection to Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate has taken everyone by surprise. Similarly, the party’s snub to NDA Presidential candidate P A Sangma and its coming out in the open to support UPA Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee is also intriguing to many. But, sources stated that Sangma was in fact the choice of Narendra Modi himself, who, in his meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, had propped up his name.
Nitish, who was aware of the behind-the-scenes confabulations, refused to fall in the trap and instantly rejected BJP’s (read Modi) nominee. For obvious reasons, Modi is not claiming the credit for picking up a tribal and a Christian nominee, who will be a big draw in his own State of Gujarat, which has sizeable presence of tribals and Christians, as it would otherwise alienate the secular parties like the JD (U).
Slowly but gradually, after the Presidential elections, one would see a transformed BJP, where the writ of Modi would guide the party, more than the diktats of the Delhi-4 – Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley – who had taken upon themselves the onus to run the party.
As earlier, when they were snubbed by the RSS, who preferred to anoint a Nagpur-based businessman-cum-politician, Nitin Gadkari, in the highest seat in the party, this time round also, they are determined to push for the candidature of Narendra Modi to the highest seat of power, i.e., the Prime Minister. Both Gadkari and Modi will guide and run the party, while the likes of Delhi-4 will be pushed to the background.
The crucial test for Modi, at present, is to concentrate on Gujarat and ensure that he succeeds in getting a hat-trick in the Assembly elections. As for the legal cases against him, the RSS is hopeful that his popularity will overshadow his wrong-doings in the past, if any. For them, the simmerings of discontent against him in the State and at the Centre would be dealt with at an appropriate time.
The likes of Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta come nowhere near the larger-than-life projection of Narendra Modi, who is too big a leader to be bothered by these leaders, who get dwarfed in front of him.
As for the ruffling of feathers by BJP central leaders, the RSS has made it known recently that it is Modi, who will lead them and it would be better the soonest they understand the writing on the wall. By dumping Modi’s archrival Sanjay Joshi from the BJP, the RSS has not only snubbed Gadkari, who was unwilling to remove Joshi, but also sent-out clear signals to the other BJP Central leaders that Modi is their preferred choice for Prime Minister.
Gadkari, who was earlier reluctant to show the door to Sanjay Joshi, was forced by the RSS to toe the line and later though NDA Working Chairman L K Advani and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj protested, they, too, had no option but to fall in line. It was not for nothing that both these leaders absented themselves from the public meeting at the conclusion of the BJP National Executive in Mumbai.
The BJP National Executive meeting was termed a flop show, as it failed to lambast the UPA government on several fronts, including the spiralling petroleum prices and its failure to push forth the reform legislations and the Lokpal Bill. Ironically, however, it was the most significant meeting that chalked-out the path for the party leadership to pursue.
The RSS not only managed to re-establish itself as the supreme body that will dictate to the BJP in future but it picked its own man, Modi, for Prime Ministership, who will pursue the Hindutva agenda in the country. This, the RSS did, even at the cost of sacrificing its own man, Sanjay Joshi, who was unceremoniously shown the door, just to please Narendra Modi.
Joshi and Modi have been archrivals even before the latter donned the role of Gujarat Chief Minister. In fact, it was Joshi, who was instrumental in sending Modi to Delhi when Keshubhai Patel was Gujarat Chief Minister.
Later, when Sanjay Joshi’s name was tarnished due to the sleaze CD, (many say Modi was behind its leak), he went into hibernation and returned only at the instance of Gadkari, who reinducted all former BJP leaders back into the party, including Uma Bharati and Jaswant Singh. Since then, there was a cold war going on between Gadkari and Modi, with the latter refusing to campaign in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, where his bête-noire Sanjay Joshi was the election in-charge.
After the exit of Sanjay Joshi, NDA working chairman L K Advani vented out his anger against Nitin Gadkari in his blog. This was his way of protest against Gadkari, who went out of his way to mollify Modi (at the instructions of the RSS), who refused to attend the BJP conclave meeting unless Joshi was ousted from the BJP National Executive.
Not naming Gadkari though, Advani pointed to the developments in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan. Advani did not hide his unhappiness over decisions like the induction of Babu Singh Kushwaha, the ousted Minister from BSP and facing charges in NRHM scam and former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa being promoted and rebels being encouraged.
While Advani limited his criticism only to Gadkari, BJP mouthpieces, Kamal Sandesh, was critical of Modi. The article, in a subdued way, wanted to pass on the message to Modi that it is the party and the organization, which are supreme than any individual. In fact, any person should be grateful to the party for giving him the opportunity to grow in stature as a leader.
Despite the sermons, Modi, put his foot down and wanted his archrival Sanjay Joshi to be removed from the party, as well. Following the poster war, Modi had the last laugh, when Sanjay Joshi quit the party, claiming that there was pressure on him to leave.
As it happened in the case of K N Govindacharya, who had to quit the party when he termed the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee as Mukhota (mask), Sanjay Joshi was sacrificed by the RSS to please Narendra Modi, the Numero Uno in the party, who has emerged as the new BJP mascot, after former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Modi can attract crowds and can get the party elected in the state.
The RSS, in fact, has not much of a choice for Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Among those, who are in the race, Advani has been tested twice; Arun Jaitley has never himself contested elections, though he is a good media manager and a backroom boy; and Sushma Swaraj, though a good orator, does not match the skills of Modi. Gadkari, however, lacks the political experience and the maturity to head the government.
Anita Saluja
“There is no dearth of leaders in the BJP. We have too many leaders. It is a bouquet and we will pick one flower from it when the need arises,” remarked BJP Spokesperson Prakash Javadekar last year on the leadership crisis in the party. In the bouquet, unfortunately, there were more thorns than flowers, with leaders busy undermining each other.
After the crucial BJP National Executive in Mumbai, the RSS has picked up one flower from the bouquet, Narendra Modi, who, it is felt, would spread fragrance of Hindutva ideology but the Allies are not so sure. BJP’s prominent ally, the Janata Dal (U), came out in the open to protest against his candidature for the Prime Minister’s post, which is two years away.
Recently, RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat hit out at Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying, “To keep alive the Hindutva ideology, the Hindu samaaj should come together. And the country should have a Prime Minister, who believes in that ideology or propounds that view.”
It was not just a snub to Nitish Kumar, but it also had a not-so-veiled message even for the BJP top-brass, which has begun to see virtues in moderation and in dilution of the Hindutva ideology. Rejecting any suggestions to put Hindutva on the backburner, Mohan Bhagwat wants the BJP to commit itself to the core ideology. The RSS Chief is firm: BJP needs to be Modi-fied.
The timing of JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar’s objection to Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate has taken everyone by surprise. Similarly, the party’s snub to NDA Presidential candidate P A Sangma and its coming out in the open to support UPA Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee is also intriguing to many. But, sources stated that Sangma was in fact the choice of Narendra Modi himself, who, in his meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, had propped up his name.
Nitish, who was aware of the behind-the-scenes confabulations, refused to fall in the trap and instantly rejected BJP’s (read Modi) nominee. For obvious reasons, Modi is not claiming the credit for picking up a tribal and a Christian nominee, who will be a big draw in his own State of Gujarat, which has sizeable presence of tribals and Christians, as it would otherwise alienate the secular parties like the JD (U).
Slowly but gradually, after the Presidential elections, one would see a transformed BJP, where the writ of Modi would guide the party, more than the diktats of the Delhi-4 – Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley – who had taken upon themselves the onus to run the party.
As earlier, when they were snubbed by the RSS, who preferred to anoint a Nagpur-based businessman-cum-politician, Nitin Gadkari, in the highest seat in the party, this time round also, they are determined to push for the candidature of Narendra Modi to the highest seat of power, i.e., the Prime Minister. Both Gadkari and Modi will guide and run the party, while the likes of Delhi-4 will be pushed to the background.
The crucial test for Modi, at present, is to concentrate on Gujarat and ensure that he succeeds in getting a hat-trick in the Assembly elections. As for the legal cases against him, the RSS is hopeful that his popularity will overshadow his wrong-doings in the past, if any. For them, the simmerings of discontent against him in the State and at the Centre would be dealt with at an appropriate time.
The likes of Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta come nowhere near the larger-than-life projection of Narendra Modi, who is too big a leader to be bothered by these leaders, who get dwarfed in front of him.
As for the ruffling of feathers by BJP central leaders, the RSS has made it known recently that it is Modi, who will lead them and it would be better the soonest they understand the writing on the wall. By dumping Modi’s archrival Sanjay Joshi from the BJP, the RSS has not only snubbed Gadkari, who was unwilling to remove Joshi, but also sent-out clear signals to the other BJP Central leaders that Modi is their preferred choice for Prime Minister.
Gadkari, who was earlier reluctant to show the door to Sanjay Joshi, was forced by the RSS to toe the line and later though NDA Working Chairman L K Advani and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj protested, they, too, had no option but to fall in line. It was not for nothing that both these leaders absented themselves from the public meeting at the conclusion of the BJP National Executive in Mumbai.
The BJP National Executive meeting was termed a flop show, as it failed to lambast the UPA government on several fronts, including the spiralling petroleum prices and its failure to push forth the reform legislations and the Lokpal Bill. Ironically, however, it was the most significant meeting that chalked-out the path for the party leadership to pursue.
The RSS not only managed to re-establish itself as the supreme body that will dictate to the BJP in future but it picked its own man, Modi, for Prime Ministership, who will pursue the Hindutva agenda in the country. This, the RSS did, even at the cost of sacrificing its own man, Sanjay Joshi, who was unceremoniously shown the door, just to please Narendra Modi.
Joshi and Modi have been archrivals even before the latter donned the role of Gujarat Chief Minister. In fact, it was Joshi, who was instrumental in sending Modi to Delhi when Keshubhai Patel was Gujarat Chief Minister.
Later, when Sanjay Joshi’s name was tarnished due to the sleaze CD, (many say Modi was behind its leak), he went into hibernation and returned only at the instance of Gadkari, who reinducted all former BJP leaders back into the party, including Uma Bharati and Jaswant Singh. Since then, there was a cold war going on between Gadkari and Modi, with the latter refusing to campaign in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, where his bête-noire Sanjay Joshi was the election in-charge.
After the exit of Sanjay Joshi, NDA working chairman L K Advani vented out his anger against Nitin Gadkari in his blog. This was his way of protest against Gadkari, who went out of his way to mollify Modi (at the instructions of the RSS), who refused to attend the BJP conclave meeting unless Joshi was ousted from the BJP National Executive.
Not naming Gadkari though, Advani pointed to the developments in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan. Advani did not hide his unhappiness over decisions like the induction of Babu Singh Kushwaha, the ousted Minister from BSP and facing charges in NRHM scam and former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa being promoted and rebels being encouraged.
While Advani limited his criticism only to Gadkari, BJP mouthpieces, Kamal Sandesh, was critical of Modi. The article, in a subdued way, wanted to pass on the message to Modi that it is the party and the organization, which are supreme than any individual. In fact, any person should be grateful to the party for giving him the opportunity to grow in stature as a leader.
Despite the sermons, Modi, put his foot down and wanted his archrival Sanjay Joshi to be removed from the party, as well. Following the poster war, Modi had the last laugh, when Sanjay Joshi quit the party, claiming that there was pressure on him to leave.
As it happened in the case of K N Govindacharya, who had to quit the party when he termed the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee as Mukhota (mask), Sanjay Joshi was sacrificed by the RSS to please Narendra Modi, the Numero Uno in the party, who has emerged as the new BJP mascot, after former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Modi can attract crowds and can get the party elected in the state.
The
RSS, in fact, has not much of a choice for Lok Sabha elections in 2014.
Among those, who are in the race, Advani has been tested twice; Arun
Jaitley has never himself contested elections, though he is a good media
manager and a backroom boy; and Sushma Swaraj, though a good orator,
does not match the skills of Modi. Gadkari, however, lacks the political
experience and the maturity to head the government.
The only drawback with Narendrabhai is that he may not be acceptable to the Allies of the BJP, with the likes of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is not even ready to get photographed with him As of now it is Modi, who is all set to call the shots in the BJP, with the full backing of the RSS. Gadkari has been shown his place, though he is the favourite of the Sangh, but since he is new to national politics and lacks the stature of a seasoned politician, he can be tried out at a later stage.
It is learnt that soon after the Gujarat Assembly elections, slated towards the end of this year, Modi will be brought to Delhi and made Chairman of the BJP Central Campaign Committee to lead the election campaign in several States, as the star campaigner of the party. The idea is to project Modi on the centrestage of national politics, prior to his being declared as the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate. If all goes according to RSS plans, it will be Modi versus Rahul Gandhi contest in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, as it was Advani versus Manmohan Singh in the Lok Sabha polls in 2009.
The only drawback with Narendrabhai is that he may not be acceptable to the Allies of the BJP, with the likes of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is not even ready to get photographed with him As of now it is Modi, who is all set to call the shots in the BJP, with the full backing of the RSS. Gadkari has been shown his place, though he is the favourite of the Sangh, but since he is new to national politics and lacks the stature of a seasoned politician, he can be tried out at a later stage.
It is learnt that soon after the Gujarat Assembly elections, slated towards the end of this year, Modi will be brought to Delhi and made Chairman of the BJP Central Campaign Committee to lead the election campaign in several States, as the star campaigner of the party. The idea is to project Modi on the centrestage of national politics, prior to his being declared as the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate. If all goes according to RSS plans, it will be Modi versus Rahul Gandhi contest in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, as it was Advani versus Manmohan Singh in the Lok Sabha polls in 2009.
Courtesy : The Hans India
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