By Rajeev Khanna, IANS
Bhopal : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders chose to keep mum Saturday on the leadership controversy dogging the party for the last several days. After the flurry of comments by party leaders on the first day of the party’s national executive meet, everyone clammed up on the issue on day two.
Perhaps it was due to way the issue made headlines in the media or due to an instruction from the party leadership, but everyone went into silent on the matter.
When senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi was asked by reporters to indicate the party’s next leader, he retorted: “Am I the one who can indicate? It’s always you who have been indicating.”
The same tone was adopted by Sushma Swaraj after she submitted a report seeking 33 percent reservation for women in the organisational structure of the BJP, which the party accepted. When asked if the party would have a woman president and if her wait for that post would end, Swaraj said: “I am not waiting for anything. As for a woman president, everything is possible.”
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Keshubhai Patel absent, but friends remember him
Although former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel was absent from BJP’s national executive meet, many leaders from other states remembered him, especially his simplicity.
Known as a man of the soil, Keshubhai Patel has many friends outside Gujarat who have fond memories of him. Among them is Madhya Pradesh Minister for Energy and IT Kailash Vijayvargiya.
Vijayvargiya was seen recounting how he had to take Keshubhai Patel as a pillion rider on his scooter when the latter had come to Bhopal a decade ago. “Politics and politicians of those days were different. There were no security covers and you were actually a public representative,” he was heard saying.
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On changing political fortunes
A lot changes with time, including political fortunes. Some BJP leaders realised this on the inaugural day of the BJP national executive meet Friday.
Some who been the centre of media attention when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was in power were seen making an entry to the venue as anonymous visitors.
Among these were former BJP president Bangaru Laxman and a couple of former union ministers.
On the other hand, the centres of media attention were Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and former union minister Jaswant Singh.