New Delhi: BJP is yet to hear the last word on its induction of former BSP leader and sacked minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, with senior ally Nitish Kumar and even RSS joining the critics. Having put Congress on the mat for corruption in the past few months, the saffron party scrambled to regain some lost ground by meeting the President on Thursday to demand a special session of Parliament to pass the Lokpal Bill.
Kushwaha has been named by the CBI in a case related to the National Rural Health Mission scam in Uttar Pradesh.
While BJP leaders petitioned President PratibhaPatil, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said Kushwaha’s induction was wrong and did not set a “healthy and appropriate precedent”. Kumar hinted that BJP ought to do a rethink, pointing to media reports about differences within the party. “BJP is also facing opposition within the party for the decision,” the chief minister said.
There was more in-house criticism in an editorial in the latest issue of RSS-affiliated Panchajanya magazine, which called on voters in UP not to support “party hoppers and criminals”. Kushwaha case puts BJP on the back foot RSS Boss, However, Evasive On Ex-BSP Man’s Entry
RSS leader Ram Madhav was evasive when asked about Kushwaha specifically. “We can’t comment on the party’s dayto-dayactivitiesaheadof elections. If they have taken a decision, we are sure they weighed the pros and cons of its likely consequences and there is no question of RSS being upset with it,” he said. However, he added: “There is a general sentiment of course that the issue of tainted politicians cannot be ignored.”
But the RSS “advisory” only served to highlight the contradiction in the BJP going to Rashtrapati Bhawan demanding a strong Lokpal while opening the door to Kushwaha. BJP sources said that party president Nitin Gadkari had made it clear at Wednesday’s meeting of the central election committee that Kushwaha will have to face the criminal charges against him and law would take its own course. Gadkari did not refer to specific charges.
The election committee is to meet again on Friday and it remains to be seen if any of BJP’s senior leaders such as L K Advani raise the matter again. Gadkari is believed to be disinclined to review the decision at least till the CBI comes up with “harder” evidence against Kushwaha. The party feels that if he is arrested, it will increase a sense of “martyrdom” within the Kushwaha community.
While BJP tried to argue that the Kushwaha decision was taken with an eye on UP’s caste calculus – driven by a bid to attracted a sizeable 9% Kushwaha vote – the explanation seemed like a futile hairsplitting exercise to many. The party has lost a lot of the capital that it sought to build up over the Lokpal issue by backing the Anna Hazare camp. And its bid to regain the support of the middle classes that it lost to Congress in 2004 might have suffered too.
Two BJP MPs voiced their disappointment with the move to induct Kushwaha. Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath warned: that the party would pay a price for taking Kushwaha on board. “I don’t know what possessed the state unit to induct a scam-tainted politician who has been kicked out of the BSP. BJP will pay a heavy price.”
Adityanath was seconded by Darbhanga MP Kirti Azad, who also backed the Panchjanya editorial. “There is substance in what Yogi Adityanath has said. I joined BJP for clean politics,” Azad said.
The divisions in BJP are sharp, although not too many leaders are keen to come on record. Few in the top brass, apart from Gadkari and some others, are supportive of Kushwaha gambit. The move is seenasashort-sightedgamblewith no strong evidence that Kushwaha can actually swing votes BJP’s way.
But with the surveys commissioned by the party showing a revival of sorts for BJP in UP, the party leadership is looking at Kushwaha to plug a gap in its social support. “Lodhs and kurmis are receptive to BJP. But Kushwahas are not. And they account for 9% of the vote,” said a source.
Kushwaha has been named by the CBI in a case related to the National Rural Health Mission scam in Uttar Pradesh.
While BJP leaders petitioned President PratibhaPatil, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said Kushwaha’s induction was wrong and did not set a “healthy and appropriate precedent”. Kumar hinted that BJP ought to do a rethink, pointing to media reports about differences within the party. “BJP is also facing opposition within the party for the decision,” the chief minister said.
There was more in-house criticism in an editorial in the latest issue of RSS-affiliated Panchajanya magazine, which called on voters in UP not to support “party hoppers and criminals”. Kushwaha case puts BJP on the back foot RSS Boss, However, Evasive On Ex-BSP Man’s Entry
RSS leader Ram Madhav was evasive when asked about Kushwaha specifically. “We can’t comment on the party’s dayto-dayactivitiesaheadof elections. If they have taken a decision, we are sure they weighed the pros and cons of its likely consequences and there is no question of RSS being upset with it,” he said. However, he added: “There is a general sentiment of course that the issue of tainted politicians cannot be ignored.”
But the RSS “advisory” only served to highlight the contradiction in the BJP going to Rashtrapati Bhawan demanding a strong Lokpal while opening the door to Kushwaha. BJP sources said that party president Nitin Gadkari had made it clear at Wednesday’s meeting of the central election committee that Kushwaha will have to face the criminal charges against him and law would take its own course. Gadkari did not refer to specific charges.
The election committee is to meet again on Friday and it remains to be seen if any of BJP’s senior leaders such as L K Advani raise the matter again. Gadkari is believed to be disinclined to review the decision at least till the CBI comes up with “harder” evidence against Kushwaha. The party feels that if he is arrested, it will increase a sense of “martyrdom” within the Kushwaha community.
While BJP tried to argue that the Kushwaha decision was taken with an eye on UP’s caste calculus – driven by a bid to attracted a sizeable 9% Kushwaha vote – the explanation seemed like a futile hairsplitting exercise to many. The party has lost a lot of the capital that it sought to build up over the Lokpal issue by backing the Anna Hazare camp. And its bid to regain the support of the middle classes that it lost to Congress in 2004 might have suffered too.
Two BJP MPs voiced their disappointment with the move to induct Kushwaha. Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath warned: that the party would pay a price for taking Kushwaha on board. “I don’t know what possessed the state unit to induct a scam-tainted politician who has been kicked out of the BSP. BJP will pay a heavy price.”
Adityanath was seconded by Darbhanga MP Kirti Azad, who also backed the Panchjanya editorial. “There is substance in what Yogi Adityanath has said. I joined BJP for clean politics,” Azad said.
The divisions in BJP are sharp, although not too many leaders are keen to come on record. Few in the top brass, apart from Gadkari and some others, are supportive of Kushwaha gambit. The move is seenasashort-sightedgamblewith no strong evidence that Kushwaha can actually swing votes BJP’s way.
But with the surveys commissioned by the party showing a revival of sorts for BJP in UP, the party leadership is looking at Kushwaha to plug a gap in its social support. “Lodhs and kurmis are receptive to BJP. But Kushwahas are not. And they account for 9% of the vote,” said a source.
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