NEW DELHI: BJP super boss Amit Shah is not amused at too many cooks spoiling the broth in Manipur where Assembly elections are due.
Even though party general secretary Ram Madhav’s stock soared after the Assam win, Shah has roped in HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, Lok Sabha MP Prahlad Patel, and party co-ordinator for the Northeast Ajay Jamwal to handle the Manipur poll effort.
Sources said the heavy hitters are working independently by competing to raise their political stock. The BJP chief was surprised when he received three separate candidate list from each.
In election-bound Manipur, three BJP musketeers are fighting separate battles to win the approval of their party chief Amit Shah.
“Javadekar has taken his responsibility as the BJP in-charge of Manipur quite seriously. He refused to heed local feedback and decided to conduct his own fact-finding mission among people for an independent assessment about the merits of candidates. He consequently drew up his own list for Manipur,” sources said.
Equally enthusiastic was Patel, who has been closely working with the BJP organisational secretary and former RSS leader Ram Lal. “Patel worked and networked with RSS functionaries and BJP workers in the state. He too had his list of possible candidates,” the sources added.
The third list was authored by Jamwal. “With three lists in his possession, Shah assigned the job of finding the best candidates for Manipur to other Central leaders. Madhav played a key role in going through them,” sources added.
The BJP is in power in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, and is eyeing Congress-ruled Manipur with the hope of spreading its footprint in the Northeast.