By IANS,
New Delhi : While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership was divided over initiating disciplinary action against senior leader Arun Shourie, who Monday created a flutter by calling his party a “kati patang (a kite adrift)” and its chief Rajnath Singh “Humpty Dumpty,” the BJP Tuesday sought his explanation for his adverse remarks.
“The party has taken cognizance of Mr. Shourie’s remarks and the party would be seeking a clarification…This is not a show-cause notice,” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told IANS.
Earlier at an evening meeting of the BJP general secretaries chaired by Rajnath Singh, one section advocated action against Shourie and the other sought a middle path.
Party leaders who were crying for Shourie’s head till Tuesday morning were tightlipped.
“There were two opinions at the general secretaries’ meeting. One, he should be sacked just like Jaswant Singh. The other was that the party could not just go on a sacking spree and must address the real issues,” a BJP leader told IANS.
“At the same time, to ensure a wrong message did not go out, the party may decide to issue Shourie a show-cause notice and the leadership may hold personal meetings with him,” the source said, pleading anonymity since he is not authorised to speak to media on internal party issues.
Shourie, upset over the way the BJP is being run, has urged the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the party’s ideological parent, to take greater control of the BJP.
“The way he (Shourie) went out in public about the party’s internal issues is unfortunate,” Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP vice-president, told IANS earlier in the day.
“If somebody has grievances, there are enough forums within the party for their redressal. Talking about party leadership in public is indiscipline.”
BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy Monday said: “I am sure he wants action against himself. He wants to become a martyr.”
Shourie told IANS: “This is what great leaders like Rudy can think and all this is rubbish.”
The BJP has been in a crisis since its leader and Lok Sabha member Jaswant Singh was sacked over a book he wrote, contending that Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, had been demonised in India.