The Hindu : Front Page : Gujarat issue will be discussed: Vajpayee

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Friday, Jun 18, 2004

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Gujarat issue will be discussed: Vajpayee

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, JUNE 17. The countdown has begun for the exit of the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, with the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, clearly signalling that the Gujarat issue will be discussed in Mumbai where the party is holding a three-day national executive committee meeting from Tuesday, June 22.

This is what Mr. Vajpayee said today at a public meeting near Manali, Himachal Pradesh, where he is holidaying: "We will discuss Gujarat when we meet in Mumbai; a discussion will take place ... we are not afraid to discuss issues; we discuss when we win elections and we also discuss when we lose ... we will discuss with an open mind ... "

Party sources said that Mr. Modi's fate might be sealed even before the national executive committee meeting. Mr. Vajpayee will be back from Manali on June 19; the party president, Venkaiah Naidu, will return from Chennai the same day; and both the Leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader who is in charge of BJP affairs, Madan Das Devi, are in town. A meeting could take place any time between June 19 and 21 before the leaders leave for Mumbai. After a decision is taken here, a meeting on the sidelines of the executive to discuss the issue further will only be a formality. "With 80 per cent of the Gujarat State unit against Mr. Modi, the party has not much of a choice. The change of guard, if it takes place, will not be because of the riots or their effect on the Lok Sabha polls, but because of his style of functioning,'' a senior party leader said today.

In fact, a decision to change the Chief Minister was virtually taken some weeks ago but the party leadership wanted the dissident leaders to wait till the State Assembly session was over. Apparently, the exit of Mr. Modi got postponed partly because there is no decision as yet on who should take his place. Then the June 13 statement of Mr. Vajpayee and the reaction of others that followed gave a few weeks' grace time to Mr. Modi, one party leader said.

On record, not a single BJP leader was willing to say anything. "No comments" was all that the party spokesperson, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, would say.

In political circles, today's statement by Mr. Vajpayee is being read as a rebuff to Mr. Naidu, who had virtually contradicted Mr. Vajpayee's June 13 statement from Manali that Gujarat and Mr. Modi would be discussed at the party's national executive and that the riots in the State two years ago were one of the reasons for the party's dismal performance in the elections.

Mr. Naidu said the next day: "There is no proposal" before the party on a leadership change in Gujarat and that "the matter will not be discussed at the national executive committee meeting in Mumbai." But even on that day Mr. Naidu had not denied that there was a crisis in Gujarat and said that the affairs of the State "would be discussed separately." The emphasis on "no discussion" at the executive led to speculation that the party would isolate Mr. Vajpayee. Today's robust rejoinder by Mr. Vajpayee is seen as a signal that he is ready to challenge those challenging his unquestioned leadership.

As for the RSS, it had made it clear that it is unhappy with Mr. Vajpayee linking the party's electoral rout to the Gujarat riots. It would not stand in the way of a leadership change for other reasons. "It is for the BJP to decide, we have no role to play," the RSS spokesperson, Ram Madhav, has said on the question of the party asking Mr. Modi to put in his papers.

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