Unhappiness in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over ticket for the Rajya Sabha elections has come out in the open, with reservations expressed especially over the nomination of Tarun Vijay for a seat from Uttarakhand and Ram Jethmalani from Rajasthan.
Seshadri Chari, former editor of The Organiser , mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), shot off a letter to BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Sunday complaining that committed party workers had been ignored in favour of “rank opportunists and publicity managers.”
Although he did not name Mr. Tarun Vijay, a former editor of another RSS publication, Panchjanya , Mr. Chari, made it clear he was referring to him when he protested that in Uttarakhand committed ‘karyakartas' such as Naresh Bansal and Mohan Singh Gaonwasi had been ignored. From this State, the lone nomination was that of Mr. Vijay who filed his papers on Monday in Dehradun in the presence of the Chief Minister and party functionaries.
Speaking to journalists here on Monday, Mr. Chari also said an internal inquiry conducted by the RSS some time ago found Mr. Vijay guilty of financial irregularities for which he was asked to resign as Panchjanya editor. He was shocked that such a person was made party spokesperson and has now been given Rajya Sabha ticket. “My point is that many local workers were far more capable and would have contributed to the party in the State,” Mr. Chari added.
On the ticket to well-known lawyer and former Law Minister, Mr. Jethmalani, a number of party leaders and functionaries expressed dismay. “He contested against Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Lucknow; he has often spoken against party views on important issues; how can he be given party ticket from Rajasthan, especially as Mr. Vajpayee is very ill and unable to speak up?” one senior party leader asked.
Under pressure?
The buzz in the BJP party headquarters is that the party president was pressured into giving him ticket by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as Mr. Jethmalani is expected to advise him legally on how to handle the riot-related cases being inquired by the Special Investigating Team set up under the supervision of the Supreme Court. Party leaders were, however, wary of saying this on record.
“Yes, Mr. Jethmalani was interested in the ticket; he is a very senior member who was vice-president of the party when it was founded in 1980 and the party president has declared his name from Rajasthan,” was all that party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad would say. But, others pointed out it would be difficult to discipline Mr. Jethmalani to take the party view on various issues. He could end up embarrassing the BJP.
