Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkarisurvived in his post for one more day but with more leaders speaking outagainst him his future is more uncertain than ever.
During a day that saw a series of meetings of the party topbrass, Gadkari apologized for his comments comparing Swami Vivekanand withDawood Ibrahim, RSS criticized the remarks, veteran ideologue S Gurumurthyarrived on the scene to patch up things, but no clear picture emerged on thevexed question: will he be dropped now or plainly denied a second term?
Gadkari’s apology coupled with Gurumurthy’s work behind thescenes reduced some tension in time for the BJP core committee meeting.
Gurumurthy also met Ram Jethmalani, whose son has quit theparty national executive in protest against Gadkari. Party circles speculatedthat Gurumurthy would come out with a clarification on Gadkari’s Purti groupand its audits, responding to activist Arvind Kejriwal’s charges of corruptionagainst it.
BJP policymakers feel that Gadkari, facing a media trial,will not be given a second term and by mid-December there shall be anothermeeting of the party seniors to pick his successor “ whose name would beformally proposed by Gadkari.
Apology
Facing demands from within his party to quit, charges of corruptionand a controversy after his apparent comparison between spiritual leader SwamiVivekananda and terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, Gadkari on Tuesday chose to clear theair at least about his remarks.
A statement released by his office in New Delhi said that heregretted his remarks, but also that he was quoted out of context “to createconfusion”.
“My personal reverence for Swami Vivekananda is second tonone. I am deeply pained to note that my words have been taken out of contextto create confusion,” the statement said. “I had absolutely no intention toproject Swami Vivekananda in bad light. If my words about Swami Vivekanandahave hurt the public sentiments in any manner, I express my sincere regrets,”the statement read.
At a function in Bhopal on Sunday, Gadkari said that SwamiVivekananda and Dawood Ibrahim had comparable IQs, but one used it for nationbuilding and the other for crime.
Jethmalani raises stakes
This remark was also used by Ram Jethmalani, BJP MP in RajyaSabha and a senior party functionary, to criticise Gadkari, who he has demandedquit the party president's post. Ram Jethmalani also claimed that three othersenior leaders, including Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha, also wanted thesame.
“I am in touch with Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha andShatrughan Sinha (all Lok Sabha members). We seem to be on the same wavelength. I don’t presume to predict how they will… We are clearly of the opinionthat resignation of the party president is imminently called for,” he toldreporters.
As reported by PTI, Jethmalani feels it would be in theinterest of the party to disassociate itself with Gadkari. His presence wouldhave an adverse effect on the party in the 2014 Lok sabha elections.
Factions in the party
Differences in the BJP over Gadkari are out in the open withone camp holding him guilty and demanding his resignation and the other tryingto defend him. Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday expressed her supportfor the under-fire party president, saying that she had always supported himand will continue to do so.
“The media reports that I am not supporting Shri NitinGadkari are absolutely false. I have always supported him and I reiterate mysupport,” Swaraj tweeted after he reportedly met her.
Meanwhile, other senior BJP leaders including LK Advani,whom Gadkari was expected to meet soon, Arun Jaitley were silent over theissue.
All eyes are on the RSS, which has rebuked Gadkari for theVivekanand comment, but is said to be against his removal as it would be anadmission of guilt.
