The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Nitin Gadkari was destiny’s blue-eyed boy — or so it had appeared until Rajnath Singh, in the predatory manner of an eagle swooping down on its prey, snatched away the helmsman’s prize. Mr. Gadkari was hoping to make history as the first BJP chief to have earned a second consecutive three-year term via an amendment to the party’s constitution. Instead he has made history as the first party chief to have been ousted minutes away from winning a second term. Party and pundits alike had assumed that the contest was over, bar the shouting. Indeed, the outgoing chief led a charmed life, surviving not just serious charges of financial wrongdoing but multiple internal mutinies targeted at securing his exit ahead of the election for the top party post. But all the malcontents put together could not budge the chief from his place for the simple reason that he existed at the pleasure of the BJP’s command centre at Delhi’s Jhandewalan. A baffling bond held together Mr. Gadkari and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The outgoing BJP chief was hardly the quintessential sangh ideologue. He did not flaunt his nationalist credentials or declaim with passion on Hindutva. Nor did he fit the other sangh ideals of personal austerity and probity.
On the contrary, Mr. Gadkari seemed to subscribe to an entrepreneurial model that was liberal in its interpretation of business ethics. As much was proved when the full extent of the Purti Group’s dealings, complete with dubious crossholdings and funding patterns, was revealed. The end was precipitated by income tax raids on Mr. Gadkari’s network of companies hours before his re-election. The moment was naturally seized by Mr. Gadkari’s opponents, some of whom had tried to force the issue by threatening to contest against him. The months ahead will be as much a test for Mr. Rajnath Singh as it will be for the RSS, which in a desperate attempt to show its authority, vetoed Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley for the party post. Obviously Mr. Singh, with his proven loyalty to the sangh, was preferable to those with bigger reputations. In an earlier presidential stint, Mr. Singh had replaced Lal Krishna Advani who was shown the door as punishment for praising Mohammad Ali Jinnah. For all that the Gadkari chapter has ended, the story is only half complete. The BJP’s real challenge will come later when it decides its Prime Ministerial candidate conscious of the fact that the line of aspirants will be led by the divisive figure of Narendra Modi. The Gujarat Chief Minister has a frenzied following among the parivar’s rank and file but he is also ambitious and authoritarian and comes with baggage that cannot augur well for the expansion of the National Democratic Alliance.
Keywords: former BJP president Nitin Gadkari, political conspiracy, IT raids, Rajnath Singh, BJP president election, Gadkari candidature, IT department move, Puti Group
Change in the leadership is the right move taken by Bhartiya Janta Party.Though the corruption allegation on Gadkari still not proved but choosing the president with a clear image is welcome move.
Dear sir,
Presently the BJP can take the advantage of rise in inflation and
other factors which are against congress govt. Congress has already
completed two consecutive term and hence the people also need some
change. And at this time, BJP top leaders should decide unanimously
to elect a prime ministerial candidate who is having more chances to
win. Or we can say Narendra Modi should be projected as the future
PM. The leadership of BJP should act accordingly to get the benefit
of present status of congress govt. If this time BJP misses this
chance, then it will be very tough for the NDA to come to power. Let
us see what happens in 2014 general elections.
There is no two opinions in the fact that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now a divided house. Like many other parties, it has its own weaknesses as well as strong points. But of late the weakness is emerging which is starkly noticeable. Mr Gadkari's exit from the post of president in this context is no exception. It contained all the elements of high drama till the last. A handful of leaders were already working behind the scene. RSS backing to Mr. Gadkari was challenged which however finally did not work. Mr. Rajnath Singh's win and his becoming the party president for the second time has been hailed more because of the majority in the party wanted a candidate not tainted with corruption charges like Mr. Nitin Gadkari, rather than the virtue of his astuteness in managing the party during his first tenure as president. The Modi factor also played a role in the process. That the party has been suffering from the menace of divisionism and factionalism was not an exception this time too.
BJP should thank UPA's IT department for getting rid of the "heavy weight" Gadkari for all the allegations against him. It would have been more respectful exit, had he left on his own until he came out clean of all the issues. Digvijay is correct to say that, Gadkari as BJP President, is Congress's strength. Now atleast BJP should clean up its tables in Karnataka and elsewhere and get ready for 2014 now that excess baggage is thrown out of its back. Rajnath Singh may not be the right person but he and Modi should lead BJP to victory. As they say strong people attract other partners and secularists aka opportunists(SP, BSP, JDU etc) will abandon Congress purely for self preservation if you have the numbers on your side and on your own strength. There are enough Congress opponents who will back BJP then.
Dear Mr Editor,
I have been a reader of "The Hindu" for the past 3 or 4 decades. I have sadly come to the conclusion that it seems to be the policy of the Hindu, to make sure that no national party can ever emerge as an alternative to its favorite congress party. This is not a hurried conclusion since I have observed "The Hindu" right from the days before the emergency and the days of the Janatha Party or Lohia's party. I am a member of no political party - I am only thinking about our country and what is being done to her.
What is HINDU's agenda? Is it really an independent newspaper?
I have very serious doubts.
I request that you write an editorial spelling out the aims of "THE HINDU" for the benefit of your readers who have been loyal to it for so many years.
Yours sincerely
Dr. E Kumar
P.S I hope you at least permit the posting of the above comments without editing them.
It is a time for BJP to revise their structure. The influence of RSS
in selecting the party chief is no more acceptable. It is the
responsibility of experienced people in BJP to decide that only
unbiased and young people hold the top post in party.
BJP has an added advantage that it is not having dynasty rule like
congress. So it is a great opportunity for them to show some courage
to give party a new secular look and it will surely help them building
trust in mind on Indians. When the elections of 2014 coming & people
looking for a better alternative to congress, party should not lose
the opportunity to make a good impression on people by at least
selecting a good candidate for leadership post.
Whatever happend that is a good sign for BJP and country. If any person has corrouption charges he/she should resign. In this article mention " The BJP’s real challenge will come later when it decides its Prime Ministerial candidate conscious of the fact that the line of aspirants will be led by the divisive figure of Narendra Modi."
I personally think BJP should declare Narendra Modi as PM candidate. In present time there is no leader in country like Narendera Modi. He is most stronger and popular candidate for PM. I also request to media that please highligt his good work what he did in Gujrat instead of always blaming him on Gujrat riots.
Had Mr. Gadkadi sworn in as the party president for his second
consecutive term it could have been a huge strategic set back to the
party’s national agenda and sangh ideology. In the recent past, BJP
interrogated a bunch of corruption instances i.e., 2g spectrum scam,
coalgate scam and so on and permuted their spear accordingly banking
upon such rampant examples of corruption. But had the former been
selected BJP’s morality would have been grilled as well since
Gadkadi’s company was recently found intertwined with financial
discrepancy. It was become almost imperative for the opposition party
to vouch for someone who could augment status quo inside the party.
Mr. Singh with his veteran expertise in political and organisational
sphere could very well take across his party from the existing
organisational stagnancy to the 2014 electoral run up.
Mr Gadkari had a reputation of being a state public works minister who completed numerous flyovers in Mumbai & Mumbai-Pune expressway in record time. No minister thereafter has ever matched this record of his. Indeed, he had a technocrat style of running a Govt dept. However, in the current assignment his party was expecting him to lead a charge on the ruling party on various issues of corruption. The Purti group expose did show him in bad light & weakned his case. Above all, not being a North Indian also went against him. The party has to increase it's tally in the Hindi belt of UP/Uttarakhand & Mr Rajnath Singh might have got a plus here.
There is no social audit and transparency for Public while hundreds of
dummy companies get floated for easy money say as in case of Nitin
Gadkari- President-BJP. When a Director is shown in a company there is
allowance for transport/car/mobile etc but because of greed this is
how companies in India and overseas are run. "I feed you" tag in
absence of a contract or a fair agreement would be a constant reminder
of the worker servitude and undermine their self-esteem. All this is
deliberately done by keeping employees unsecured and their loyalty is
bought cheaply. With no contract and no written agreements at times
workers do not know they are shown as Directors in the company. There
it will be unfair to call the Nitin Gadhari scam as Political scam
because it is controlled by business mindset of India where twisting
of laws and no contract to most of the employees has been evident and
the employees in the business team are reduced to dirt.
(1)If one sentence is to be used to describe the exit of Shri Nitin
Gadkari, it would be that Shri Gadkari deserved this unceremonious
exit. (2) Despite all brave talk of friends of Shri Gadkari and RSS
bosses, it was clear that if he had been reelected, the problems of
BJP would have quadrupled. Good sense prevailed for whatever reason
and the top brass of BJP decided to advise Shri Gadkari to resign. (3)
BJP has seriously erred by shielding Shri Gadkari in the matter of his
investments in Purti Sugars Ltd. and other shell companies. (4) BJP
would still have to pay a heavy price for protecting its past
President in coming weeks when more disclosures are made by the IT
department
Obviously his controversial business dealings have finally cost Nitin Gadkari the second term as President more than the internal opposition.On the other hand Rajnath Singh Singh's elevation only shows the RSS's continued control on the the BJP. There were many young leaders in the party to chose from for this post. In the country with a young population the BJP needed a young face and not an old horse to lead the party into 2014 general elections.
It was wrong on the part of Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS chief to foist Nitin Gadkari, a political lightweight from Maharashtra as the President of the BJP. Gadkari speaheads a faction of the BJP which opposed the combine of Munde-Mahajan which controlled the Maharashtra BJP for more than a decade. NCP encouraged rise of Gadkari to weaken the Munde-Mahajan combine. Such a direct involement by the RSS in the affairs of its political arm was uncalled for. The RSS continued to support him inspite of the allegations against him. The RSS should have asked him to resign forthwith when the murky details of the crossholdings of the Purty group emerged. It is strange that an organization which professes to act as a character builder should tolerate and support a person whose integrity is under cloud of suspicion. No one will mourn the downfall of Gadkari, but the downfall of RSS from the high pedestal is certainly lamentable.
Ultimately while bjp works overtime, who ever wass at the helm, upa is not lagging
behind to rescue the other.if raids had not taken place it would have been fun and
frolic with gadkari. now upa would rue the timing and none would believe that the
administration politically was innocent of timing.now it is bjp's return yo reciprocate
upa and going by experience they would not be found wanting.woth both working
for the other who would would work for us/nation.who wlse? We shall.just let the
politicos be and serve us our daily breat and jam with tv anchors enthusiastically
cajoling.if ponly obe cared to watch the 150 minute foreign relations committee
hearing that hilaary clinton went through on benghazi yesterday.honest,candid,direct
and more than any other sibcere and truthful.if we aped thjis practice, well the tv
anchors can have more fun,that is all.shame.
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