The Hindu : Front Page : Two views in BJP over Rahul episode

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 05, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Two views in BJP over Rahul episode

Neena Vyas

Former Prime Minister breaks his silence; indicates intention to help the embattled Mahajan family

NEW DELHI : Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Sunday broke his silence on the sordid Mahajan-Moitra episode of June 2 indicating that he wanted to come to the aid of the embattled Mahajan family hit by a double tragedy within a month.

Referring to Rahul Mahajan, the son of deceased BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan, who has hovered between life and death in Delhi's Apollo Hospital for two days, Mr. Vajpayee reportedly said: "Young people do make mistakes. We will help him take the right path." Mr. Vajpayee made his comments to a television channel in Manali where he is holidaying.

With Mr. Vajpayee's comments clearly two views have emerged in the party. One was articulated by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Saturday that the suspected drugs and alcohol combination that resulted in the death of Bibek Moitra, who had been personal secretary to Pramod Mahajan since 1995, and had seriously threatened the life of Mahajan's son, Rahul, was the personal tragedy of the Mahajan family and "everything should not be linked to the party".

Significantly, Ms. Swaraj had said this after a meeting of party leaders at the residence of Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani, suggesting that this was the Advani view on how the problem should be tackled: BJP should distance itself from the episode.

Mr. Vajpayee's comments on Sunday represent the other view in the party: that the party should not be seen to have deserted the family of a leader who had served it for nearly three decades.

The comments made by Mr. Vajpayee and Ms. Swaraj are being seen as two opposing viewpoints, and two different ways to handle the crisisthat have emerged from the two senior leaders, Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Advani. There is another, and as yet a minority view in the Bharatiya Janata Party that the kind of culture that allowed "shady characters" easy access to powerful politicians in the party "should never have been allowed".

It is voiced by the saner voices in the party, and the hope is that this voice may now be heard. It was said that the episode — it has not yet become clear whether it was a case of drugs overdose or even poison being administered — has come as a "shock therapy" for the party. "We needed a shaking ... this kind of thing was waiting to happen."

There is also the view expressed most prominently by Maharashtra leader Gopinath Munde that at least the party should refrain from jumping to conclusions before the police complete its investigations. "Even if someone is used to taking drugs, would they be taking them in front of unknown characters?"

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