Party members moving in and
out from parties for political gains are not a new entity in the politics of
the subcontinent. The history pages of our country bears thousand such exmples
of defections where MPs and MLAs who contested elections on the ticket of one
party and later joined another after winning the seat. The phrase ‘Aaya Ram,
Gaya Ram’ about the MP Ram Lal who supposedly changed his party thrice in a fortnight
is reminiscent of that phase. Later the Parliament passed a constitutional
amendment popularly known as the Tenth Schedule or the Anti-Defection Law which
debarred party members from flipping parties. However, currently the leading
Opposition party, BJP is going through a huge crisis in the poll-bound state of
Rajasthan.
Ahead of the Rajasthan
assembly elections later this year, a BJP leader quit the party Tuesday,
accusing state unit chief Vasundhara Raje of functioning like an autocrat. The
state unit’s former spokesperson and former member of the BJP’s national economic
forum Sunil Bhargava said he had sent his resignation letter to party president
Rajnath Singh. The resignation is seen by political analysts as an indication
of the growing dissidence against former chief minister Raje being projected as
the chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming assembly elections.
Bhargava’s resignation letter, a copy of which has been accessed by IANS, said that the workers devoted to party were feeling completely left out and confused about their role in the elections in the year end. He accused Raje of an “autocratic style of functioning”. Bhargava had made his displeasure known over Raje’s elevation within the party in the past too. In July, he wrote a letter to Rajnath Singh accusing Raje of encouraging factionalism. “I had written a letter to you (Rajnath Singh) on July 12 drawing your attention to the problems plaguing the BJP in the state, but I am really sad that two months have passed since I wrote that letter nothing concrete has been done to improve things in the party in the state,” he wrote in his resignation.
Bhargava’s resignation letter, a copy of which has been accessed by IANS, said that the workers devoted to party were feeling completely left out and confused about their role in the elections in the year end. He accused Raje of an “autocratic style of functioning”. Bhargava had made his displeasure known over Raje’s elevation within the party in the past too. In July, he wrote a letter to Rajnath Singh accusing Raje of encouraging factionalism. “I had written a letter to you (Rajnath Singh) on July 12 drawing your attention to the problems plaguing the BJP in the state, but I am really sad that two months have passed since I wrote that letter nothing concrete has been done to improve things in the party in the state,” he wrote in his resignation.
He said Raje remained away
from party affairs, for over four years, and returned only to enjoy being in
power here. “The party’s efforts to come to power in 2014 Lok Sabha elections
will be realised only when it wins in the assembly elections. But in Rajasthan,
it seems difficult for the party to win as the workers are in a state of
confusion due to the way Raje is functioning,” said Bhargava. Raje was named
the chief of the BJP’s state unit in February.
In an effort to placate
senior leader Gulab Chand Kataria, who was at loggerheads with Raje, the party
leadership appointed him leader of opposition in the assembly. Raje had
recently concluded her Suraj Sankalpa Yatra, a 78-day-long election campaigning
tour across the state. BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi had attended the function held in Jaipur Sep 10 to mark
the yatra’s completion. “I have been a committed worker of the party for the
last over 40 years, but I feel that party in the state is being now run by
sycophants. Decisions are being taken by people who are close to Raje and are
from outside the state,” he said alleging that Raje ill-treated party workers.
The main problem lies with
the core functioning of the BJP as a party and how they wish to treat their
members. Apart from a few humble CMs such as Shivraj Singh Chouhan in MP or
Manohar Parrekar in Goa, all other BJP Chief Ministers or former Chief
Ministers holding the key position in their respective states are increasingly
becoming autocratic, so much so that they can go to an extent of even ignoring
senior party leaders to establish their dominance over the party. This culture
of restlessness will harm the party a lot and trust me there are no image
makeovers for such blunders before the elections wherein a senior party member
is accusing the state chief of being autocratic. As of now, what I can conclude
out this situation is that the party is now at a war with itself which seem to
only deepen with time.
For all sorts of bouquets
and brickbats feel free to leave a comment below or mail me at
author.vish94@gmail.com
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