AHMEDABAD: Former Education Minister Nanubhai Vanani has launched a sharp attack on the BJP’s internal culture, warning that “gaining power by sidelining principles” could backfire.
Despite the BJP’s record-breaking win in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections with 156 seats and its grip over all 8 municipal corporations, Vanani has raised alarm.
In a strongly worded letter, he questioned the means by which the party is securing power, saying people should not feel cheated after three decades of loyalty. His statement strikes at the heart of BJP’s current political strategy in Gujarat.
In a scathing seven-page letter titled “The Very Formula That Led to Congress's Downfall Now Threatens the BJP Too,” Nanubhai Vanani delivers a blistering critique of his own party, warning that the BJP is treading the same self-destructive path once taken by the Congress.
Senior BJP leader and former Education Minister Nanubhai Vanani has accused his own party of abandoning its ideological core in blind pursuit of power. “The entire culture of the Bharatiya Janata Party has changed,” Vanani wrote, warning that the party is now driven by a ruthless mantra: "Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar."
But, he asks, “Where have these Sikandars come from? What’s their ideology, what’s their morality—does anyone even care anymore?”
Vanani claims that the BJP is recruiting leaders with no connection to its values, thereby eroding its foundational ideology. “This reckless induction is not just weakening us—it’s destroying the very spirit that built this party,” he warned. He added that the BJP’s growing tilt toward power-centric ideology is not only dangerous but suicidal. “Power means nothing if it’s gained by dumping principles. True power lies in winning with principles at the core,” he emphasized.
Looking back, Vanani reminded that Gujarat elected BJP in 1995 to break away from Congress-style politics. “If we imitate the same path after 30 years, people will say—we were betrayed,” he cautioned.
He further claimed that after the 2017 elections, loyal BJP workers were left confused and disillusioned. “On one hand, we boasted of our booth-level strength; on the other, we launched random mass recruitment without any ideological filter,” he wrote. This, he said, mentally distanced committed workers from the party’s mission, leaving them “numb and alienated.”
Vanani also dissected the 2022 Assembly elections, pointing out that despite a historic win with 156 seats, the BJP suffered a 6% dip in voter turnout compared to 2017. “In a three-cornered contest, our numbers should have surged. But ground-level apathy among real karyakartas pulled us down,” he wrote, suggesting the party only benefited from a split in anti-BJP votes, indirectly hinting, “Should we be thanking the Aam Aadmi Party?”
As Vanani’s letter went viral, the Congress seized the moment. Party spokesperson Manish Doshi called it a “truth bomb from within,” accusing the BJP of being obsessed with power at the cost of governance. “Vanani’s words reflect the BJP’s real culture—where loot, betrayal, and denial reign,” Doshi said, adding that the party has ignored several such warnings before.