The Hindu : New Delhi News : Resentment among BJP cadres

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Thursday, Sep 14, 2006
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New Delhi

Resentment among BJP cadres

Sujay Mehdudia

Leaders busy trying to grab top party post instead of concentrating on public issues

NEW DELHI: With all the senior leaders of the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party aspiring for the top slot in Delhi, the party and its cadres are a completely disillusioned lot these days. The outcome of the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections this past weekend has further fortified the argument that the party is in a state of crisis in Delhi and if steps are not taken to address the situation it might just not deliver in the civic polls that are due early next year.

Strong resentment is building up within the party cadres and grassroots leaders that despite getting the best of opportunities to expose the Centre and the Delhi Government there has hardly been any effort to channel the "hurt sentiments" of the people and turn them into mass resentment among the younger lot.

According to sources in the party, the loss of the BJP-backed candidates in the DUSU elections has come as no surprise as the party leaders were busy working out plans on how to grab the top party post in Delhi instead of concentrating on issues of public importance.

The party is scheduled to have a new party president after the conclusion of the organisational polls by the end of this month. This has triggered severe infighting within the Delhi unit and senior party leaders are fighting among themselves to get a shot at the top slot.

"We lacked proper leadership and the party was unable to adequately highlight the relevant issues during the DUSU polls. There was hardly any effort to enrol the young leaders in the strategy and campaign. The party relied on tired leaders with no mass appeal to turn the tide in their favour. There is a dearth of young faces in the party and this issue needs to be thoroughly addressed in order to make amends in any future polls,'' a senior party leader remarked.

Interestingly, past DUSU presidents including former Union Minister Vijay Goel and Saket MLA Vijay Jolly were not even involved by the party in the campaign for the DUSU polls.

What is worrying the party cadres and leaders at the block and district level is that even in a situation where the Congress was facing strong public resentment on a number of issues, the party failed to take advantage. This, many in the party feel, reflects poorly on the present leadership that is in the hands of the MP from South Delhi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who is also in charge of the party's Delhi affairs, Delhi unit president Harsh Vardhan and the Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Jagdish Mukhi.

"It is not a very comfortable situation as the MCD polls are only a few months away. Any further drifting away on public issues is only going to make things worse for the party that is already facing a threat from an emerging Third Front and its former veteran leader Madan Lal Khurana. It is time for self-introspection and projecting a new leadership in the Capital; otherwise the party would face the same fate as its candidates in the DUSU polls,'' said a senior party MLA.

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