Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari has promised social activist Anna Hazare his party's solid support for all future agitations. Mr. Gadkari said his party was ready to “march forward” under his leadership.
In a two-page message released from Nagpur on Sunday soon after Mr. Hazare broke his fast and left for Medanta Medicity hospital in Gurgaon to be under the care of the cardiac surgeon Naresh Trehan, Mr. Gadkari assured the social activist that his party would not let him down in or outside Parliament.
Mr. Gadkari said: “We promise you [Anna] that the BJP will always be ready to rally around you and march forward under your leadership should the need arise any time in future to fulfil your dream of a truly democratic, corruption-free India. Anna, rest assured, we will not let you down in and outside Parliament. Nor will we allow the government to betray you any further.”
Some party leaders privately told The Hindu it was “quite wrong” on the part of Mr. Gadkari to offer “to march under the leadership” of Mr. Hazare. No self-respecting party leader would have said that, they said. They also said that while Mr. Gadkari had called press conferences to contradict parliamentary party leader Sushma Swaraj at least on two occasions and was busy cutting his own party leaders to size, now he was virtually offering to “march behind” Mr. Hazare.
Party leaders are aware that this sweeping promise has come just two days after Kiran Bedi, a prominent member of Team Anna, poked fun at two senior MPs – general secretary Ananth Kumar and deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde – on August 26 on the Ramlila grounds, thus encouraging the crowd gathered there to boo them away.
Speaking on NDTV on Sunday, Ms. Bedi said that when the two MPs came to the maidan, the group was frustrated as it was losing hope of any breakthrough in its talks with the government. Reports also came in that “even the BJP” was not helping to end the impasse. (On August 16, Mr. Gadkari said at a press conference that the party was not in favour of Team Anna's Jan Lokpal Bill and it believed the ruling party had the constitutional right to introduce a bill of its choice.)
Call from Advani
Ms. Bedi disclosed that after the insults heaped on the two MPs, she received a telephone call from senior leader L.K. Advani. He said, “Beti kya hua?” (what happened?) She told him that “even the BJP” was not helping Team Anna. He then told her, “Do not worry,” for “by tomorrow evening [Saturday evening when the debate in Parliament ends] everything will be worked out.”
