Power games in the BJP

Gadkari is seen as an RSS appointee, who is regarded as something of an interloper by Delhi-based leaders.
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Nitin Gadkari had his way in installing the chief minister of his choice, Arjun Munda, in Jharkhand, much to the distress of Yashwant Sinha, the primary claimant, and his backers like L K Advani. But that success story in the matter of exercising his authority as the BJP president has not been replicated in the B S Yeddyurappa case in Karnataka. Evidently, anointment is easier than eviction. Since Gadkari is seen as an RSS appointee, who is regarded as something of an interloper by Delhi-based leaders like Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and others, he has to be successful most of the time. Any major failure is bound to be utilised by his not-so-hidden detractors in the party to undermine his position. Herein lies the importance of the Yeddyurappa episode.

Apart from his intervention from abroad in managing the succession in Jharkhand, Gadkari’s record has been a mixed one. Like his unprepossessing predecessor, Rajnath Singh, he still hasn’t been able to acquire the kind of political legitimacy on the national stage like Advani. Although he is said to have made a statesman-like speech at the meeting on Kashmir at the height of the stone-pelting agitation, he is known more for gaffes like calling Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh “dogs” of Sonia Gandhi and describing Digvijay Singh as “Aurangzeb ki aulad” and Afzal Guru as the Congress’ son-in-law.

Even the Jharkhand episode has its downside, for it is by no means certain how durable is the tie-up with Shibu Soren, considering that the JMM leader had voted for the Congress in the Lok Sabha during what he later claimed to be a fit of amnesia. Such a lapse of memory is understandable for a person who has switched partners more than once, but there is little doubt that the BJP cannot feel fully secure in the state although it is in the driver’s seat at the moment.

This is not the case, however, in next door Bihar, where it continues to play second fiddle to Nitish Kumar. What is more, the NDA’s expected electoral success will be ascribed almost entirely to Nitish Kumar, leaving Gadkari and other senior BJP leaders with no option but to applaud from the sidelines. Unlike the Congress, where the party chief’s position is the prerogative of one family, the BJP has a much wider field of choice. But the last two nominees haven’t quite been able to live up to expectations.

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