The Hindu : National : ‘BJP bickerings will send wrong signals to cadre’

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‘BJP bickerings will send wrong signals to cadre’

Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leaders are tightlipped on infighting in the party, which manifested in general secretary Arun Jaitley’s absence at two central election committee meetings here on Friday.

Mr. Jaitley is unhappy with the appointment of Sudhanshu Mittal as co-in charge of political affairs in northeastern States.

The former BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu confirmed Mr. Jaitley’s absence but refused to say anything. “I do not discuss internal matters outside party forums.” he said between the two meetings, where the names of some candidates were finalised.

Almost everyone in the BJP agrees that bickerings at the topmost level ahead of the Lok Sabha polls are “not a good sign” and will “certainly send the wrong signal to cadre” at a time when “each one of us is expected to pull his or her full weight behind the party effort to make Mr. Advani Prime Minister.” Worse, this development comes soon after the shock of the break-up of the alliance with the Biju Janata Dal in Orissa.

Mr. Jaitley’s supporters said he wanted to register his protest on “larger ethical issues.” Party spokesman Prakash Javadekar tried to excuse his absence, saying Mr. Jaitley was busy with fresh admission cases in court. However, he failed to turn up for the afternoon meeting also. Moreover, Mr. Jaitley was present for lunch at Mr. Advani’s residence, where Janata Dal (United) leaders Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar were present.

Mr. Jaitley also attended other party work like giving the green signal for propaganda material at the residence of Mr. Ananth Kumar.

Some leaders described Mr. Jaitley’s protests on “ethical grounds” as “childish,” pointing out that Mr. Mittal had been around for a very long time and had direct access to almost all top leaders of the party including the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

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