Assertion of the underdog
Priya Sahgal and Aditi Pai
April 24, 2008
It was a defiant leap forward for a backward leader in a party known for its higher caste leadership. When BJP General Secretary Gopinath Munde revolted, few expected that the rebel would prevail and the high command would give in.
The central leadership that okayed the appointment of the Maharashtra veteranâs rival Madhu Chavan as chief of the partyâs Mumbai unit was in for a rude shock when Munde got the support of over 65 legislators and 11 of the 12 MPs from the state threatened to resign.
Munde was summoned to Delhi, not for a reprimand but to be mollified. Within hours of his meeting with party supremo L.K. Advani and party President Rajnath Singh, Chavan was replaced by an old Pramod Mahajan loyalist, Gopal Shetty. Suddenly, the party grandees ensconced in Lutyensâ bungalows realised the veto power of those who rule the grassroots.
Maharashtra may be a story of the rebel who has won, but itâs not the only story of infighting in a party that was once famous for its discipline and inner-party democracy.
Come to Bihar. In the recent cabinet reshuffle, Ashwini Kumar Choubey was shifted from Urban Development to Public Health Engineering Depart-ment and two other upper caste leaders were dropped.
The high command saw it as a whim of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, an OBC leader and the partyâs most popular face in the state.
Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu and Gopinath Munde in Delhi
Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu and Gopinath Munde in Delhi
What made it worse for Modi was the central leadershipâs claim that he had mislead them about the reshuffle. Now, Choubey has provoked as many as 40 of the 55 MLAs to demand Modiâs ouster.
In the south, the party is fighting two battles: one for the state of Karnataka and one within. Popular Lingayat leader B.S. Yeddyurappa, a grassroots politician, is not the favourite of the partyâs Delhi durbar, which prefers his English-speaking Brahmin rival Ananth Kumar.
Ever since 1999 the Yeddyurappa camp has been asking BJP to name him the chief ministerial candidate while Kumar has been advocating the principle of âcollective leadershipâ.
Now, sensing victory, the central leadership has decided to project Yeddyurappa as its chief minister. Not only does he have the support of the powerful Lingayat community, he also has the sympathy card working for him.
However, it does not mean that Kumar is out of the reckoning. Recently appointed secretary of the election management committee and a member of the central election committee, he continues to play a key role.
These states are symptomatic of a larger churning within BJP where grassroots leaders with a mass base are facing opposition from an armchair central leadership.
Mundeâs clash was with state President Nitin Gadkari who is said to have the tacit support of the central leadership. After his brother-in-law Mahajanâs death Munde has been marginalised in state politics.
Between them the Mahajan-Munde duo had worked out a formidable Brahmin-OBC combination in Maharashtra. Since then the link has been broken.
Before leaving for Delhi, Munde had said in Aurangabad, âSome people have turned the party into a kitchen cabinet and are treating it like their personal fiefdom.
Democratic ways have become extinct.â Both Advani and Rajnath have surrounded themselves with yes men with little understanding of mass politics.
While Advaniâs team has a savvy, English-speaking drawing room appeal, Rajnathâs natural inclination is towards the band of Sangh leaders deputed for party work. It would be difficult to find a grassroots leader in either of the teams.
The party stereotype seems to be intact. Known traditionally as the party of Banias and Brahmins, BJP tends to favour the aspirations of its urban centric upper-caste base. Says a party functionary from Uttar Pradesh, âIf you are a Brahmin, Vaishya or Thakur you always have the upper hand. Leaders of the rest of the communities are part of âadjustmentâ, not of the âestablishmentâ.â
BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Rajnath Singh
BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Rajnath Singh
Mass-leaders like Kalyan Singh, who won a state for BJP for the first time in 1991, and Vinay Katiyar, who was instrumental in giving the state unit a new identity in the 1990s, are nowhere to be seen now. They may have been accommodated at the headquarters on Ashoka Road in Delhi but that is just part of the âadjustmentâ plan.
Kalyan has not been given any major responsibility and, instead, has been blamed for the poor show in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections last year.
Munde too was brought to the centre as general secretary in charge of Rajasthan, to make life more comfortable for Gadkari.
Priya Sahgal and Aditi Pai
April 24, 2008
It was a defiant leap forward for a backward leader in a party known for its higher caste leadership. When BJP General Secretary Gopinath Munde revolted, few expected that the rebel would prevail and the high command would give in.
The central leadership that okayed the appointment of the Maharashtra veteranâs rival Madhu Chavan as chief of the partyâs Mumbai unit was in for a rude shock when Munde got the support of over 65 legislators and 11 of the 12 MPs from the state threatened to resign.
Munde was summoned to Delhi, not for a reprimand but to be mollified. Within hours of his meeting with party supremo L.K. Advani and party President Rajnath Singh, Chavan was replaced by an old Pramod Mahajan loyalist, Gopal Shetty. Suddenly, the party grandees ensconced in Lutyensâ bungalows realised the veto power of those who rule the grassroots.
Maharashtra may be a story of the rebel who has won, but itâs not the only story of infighting in a party that was once famous for its discipline and inner-party democracy.
Come to Bihar. In the recent cabinet reshuffle, Ashwini Kumar Choubey was shifted from Urban Development to Public Health Engineering Depart-ment and two other upper caste leaders were dropped.
The high command saw it as a whim of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, an OBC leader and the partyâs most popular face in the state.
Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu and Gopinath Munde in Delhi
Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu and Gopinath Munde in Delhi
What made it worse for Modi was the central leadershipâs claim that he had mislead them about the reshuffle. Now, Choubey has provoked as many as 40 of the 55 MLAs to demand Modiâs ouster.
In the south, the party is fighting two battles: one for the state of Karnataka and one within. Popular Lingayat leader B.S. Yeddyurappa, a grassroots politician, is not the favourite of the partyâs Delhi durbar, which prefers his English-speaking Brahmin rival Ananth Kumar.
Ever since 1999 the Yeddyurappa camp has been asking BJP to name him the chief ministerial candidate while Kumar has been advocating the principle of âcollective leadershipâ.
Now, sensing victory, the central leadership has decided to project Yeddyurappa as its chief minister. Not only does he have the support of the powerful Lingayat community, he also has the sympathy card working for him.
However, it does not mean that Kumar is out of the reckoning. Recently appointed secretary of the election management committee and a member of the central election committee, he continues to play a key role.
These states are symptomatic of a larger churning within BJP where grassroots leaders with a mass base are facing opposition from an armchair central leadership.
Mundeâs clash was with state President Nitin Gadkari who is said to have the tacit support of the central leadership. After his brother-in-law Mahajanâs death Munde has been marginalised in state politics.
Between them the Mahajan-Munde duo had worked out a formidable Brahmin-OBC combination in Maharashtra. Since then the link has been broken.
Before leaving for Delhi, Munde had said in Aurangabad, âSome people have turned the party into a kitchen cabinet and are treating it like their personal fiefdom.
Democratic ways have become extinct.â Both Advani and Rajnath have surrounded themselves with yes men with little understanding of mass politics.
While Advaniâs team has a savvy, English-speaking drawing room appeal, Rajnathâs natural inclination is towards the band of Sangh leaders deputed for party work. It would be difficult to find a grassroots leader in either of the teams.
The party stereotype seems to be intact. Known traditionally as the party of Banias and Brahmins, BJP tends to favour the aspirations of its urban centric upper-caste base. Says a party functionary from Uttar Pradesh, âIf you are a Brahmin, Vaishya or Thakur you always have the upper hand. Leaders of the rest of the communities are part of âadjustmentâ, not of the âestablishmentâ.â
BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Rajnath Singh
BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Rajnath Singh
Mass-leaders like Kalyan Singh, who won a state for BJP for the first time in 1991, and Vinay Katiyar, who was instrumental in giving the state unit a new identity in the 1990s, are nowhere to be seen now. They may have been accommodated at the headquarters on Ashoka Road in Delhi but that is just part of the âadjustmentâ plan.
Kalyan has not been given any major responsibility and, instead, has been blamed for the poor show in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections last year.
Munde too was brought to the centre as general secretary in charge of Rajasthan, to make life more comfortable for Gadkari.