There was uproar at a meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Party here over the selection of candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections.
Several leaders, including the former Union Minister, Yashwant Sinha, and the former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Shanta Kumar, virtually questioned the style of functioning of party president Nitin Gadkari.
Sensing the mood, senior leader L.K. Advani, who presided over the meeting, promised that he would convey their sentiments to Mr. Gadkari.
Mr. Sinha was upset over the decision of not fielding a candidate from Jharkhand that paved the way for tacit support to independent candidate Anshuman Mishra.
“I have come across information that a certain person who has filed his nomination in Jharkhand as an independent candidate is being supported by the party. Six BJP MLAs have signed his nomination papers and top members of the BJP were present when this gentleman was filing his nomination paper.
So a clear impression has gone that he is supported by the BJP,” Mr. Sinha said after the meeting.
Mr. Sinha maintained that he was pained by the development and argued that the party should have fielded a candidate associated with it for a long time and not paved the way for an outsider.
“I said that our MLAs should not be put on the auction block to the highest bidder and I am very satisfied that Advaniji has promised that he will speak to the national president of BJP and try and sort out the issue,” he said.
Mr. Shanta Kumar wondered as to why the party could not prevail upon Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to accommodate a third candidate of the party from Bihar.
No ticket for Ahluwalia
Eye-brows have been raised within the BJP on denial of ticket to the party's deputy leader in the House and senior parliamentary strategist S.S. Ahluwalia.
The move to drop Mr. Alhuwalia is seen as a reflection of factionalism at the highest level in the party. Mr. Alhuwalia is considered close to the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.
Relations between Mr. Gadkari and Ms. Swaraj are strained.
With his thorough knowledge of parliamentary procedures, Mr. Alhuwalia was considered as an asset for the party.
With his retirement, the party would have to look for another candidate for the job of deputy leader in the Upper House.
