Money power rampant in BJP: Shekhawat

By IANS

New Delhi: Adding to the woes of the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) that is attempting to curb in-house bickering, former Indian vice
president and party veteran Bhairon Singh Shekhawat has said "money power
was causing rampant indiscipline in the party".

"Money power is the root cause of all problems in the BJP and this has
resulted in rampant indiscipline within the party," Shekhawat told
newsweekly Outlook in an interview.

"Even god cannot deny that corruption has increased in the BJP," he
maintained.

"I have not been a member of the party for the last seven years but how can
one deny the fact which is so apparent. In fact, money has led to
indiscipline not only in the BJP but in all other parties," said Shekhawat,
also a former chief minister of Rajasthan.

Commenting on the recent tiff between BJP chief Rajnath Singh and party
general secretary Arun Jaitley over the appointment of businessman Sudhanshu
Mittal as in-charge of the northeastern states, Shekhawat said this was also
an issue related to money power.

"I had been cautioning against this. All parties, including the BJP, ignore
merit while deciding candidates for elections. The only criteria is how much
money one can spend to win an election."

"The BJP doesn't resort to same standards while selecting candidates as it
used to do earlier...when the basis of selection itself is not right, then
how do you expect that honest people and those having high moral standards
will get elected?" Shekhawat wondered.

Shekhawat was elected vice president for a five year term in August 2002. In
July 2007, he resigned from his post after losing the presidential poll to
Pratibha Patil. Till 2002, he was active in politics and was considered one
of the chief strategists of the BJP.