AHMEDABAD: Is the BJP set for an organisational overhaul in Gujarat? Speculation is rife that it may go for it, particularly after key state leaders have repeatedly called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief JP Nadda.
While one-on-one meetings have generally been a quiet affair, they became a matter of discussion in state BJP circles after some leaders started posting news of these visits on social media. Among those who have met the two top leaders are former chief minister Vijay Rupani and Assembly Speaker Shanker Chaudhary. Thereafter, murmurs of organisational changes have begun.
The BJP national leadership is known to be unhappy with the rising incidents of mudslinging within the party. Matters came to a head when leaflets appeared discrediting state BJP chief CR Paatil. It also came to be known that leaflets along with pen drives carrying details had been posted to some of the state and national leaders. Informal checks revealed it to be an insider job leading to one of the BJP MLAs filing a police complaint. Three people have already been arrested and many party leaders at the village and taluk levels have been suspended.
There has been turmoil in the ranks for some time now. Four months ago, Bhargava Bhatt, central zone general secretary, put in his papers. Then followed the resignation of Pradeepsinh Vaghela as the party general secretary last week. Besides, BJP leaders in Surat and Vadodara were suspended for spreading defamatory pamphlets about their own leaders.
In the BJP, four general secretaries are recruited from each of the state’s four zones, with one of them from RSS. These five general secretaries are considered crucial after the Gujarat BJP chief. But two of the four have resigned.
Insiders say a probe into the malicious leaflets is on. “Surat Crime Branch has questioned a senior cooperative leader and former chairman of a dairy in last two days,” they said. The crime branch has arrested three BJP office-bearers so far. Earlier on July 24, a BJP corporator of the civic council in Vadodara was held for reportedly mailing an anonymous letter, accusing the city mayor of corruption. Senior BJP leaders have refused to comment on these developments.
Rift in the ranks
There has been turmoil in the ranks for some time now. Four months ago, Bhargava Bhatt, central zone general secretary, put in his papers. The resignation of Pradeepsinh Vaghela as the party general secretary last week followed.