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Shourie’s salvos
Rattled BJP seeks clarification
Faraz Ahmad
Tribune News Service

The 48-hour bandh resulted in overcrowding in trains in Patna. — PTI

New Delhi, August 25
Having expelled Jaswant Singh with one stroke of pen in Shimla on August 19, the BJP is now acting with caution this time in effecting any action against senior BJP leader Arun Shourie, who had virtually challenged the party to take disciplinary action against him.

After a series of formal and informal deliberations with other party leaders beginning this morning at the BJP headquarters, as also at his residence BJP president Rajnath Singh despatched a letter to Arun Shourie seeking clarification from Shourie whether he has actually made remarks denigrating the BJP leadership.

The party seems to have learnt some lessons after burning its fingers expelling Jaswant Singh. BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar clarified that the letter has not been a show cause notice. “This is neither a show cause notice nor has he been sent a notice seeking explanation. Only a clarification has been sought,” Javadekar said soon after the news of the letter spread.

He claimed that BJP had been currenlty busy compiling and collecting all his recent statements and writings relating to the

party and only after an exhaustive study of that the party would decide on the course of action. It had been, however, clear that this had been just an excuse for postponing an action against Shourie, who had been more upfront than a mild-mannered Jaswant Singh.

RSS reluctant to get involved

Sources said RSS chief Mohanrao Bhagwat had been reluctant to get involved in the internal squabbles of the party. Sangh spokesman Ram Madhav indicated this when he here today said, “I want to say this clearly that it is not the job of the RSS. The RSS will provide help and advice to the BJP but political work has to be managed by them.” He had been reacting to Shourie’s suggestion that the RSS takeover the BJP and appoint a 10-member presidium to run the party.

Asked about Shourie’s claims that the BJP had been no more capable of taking care of itself, Madhav said, “Whatever is there, it is their work to think about it. The job of analysing and taking the right decision is the party's discretion, not ours,” he said.

The RSS spokesman, however, avoided a straight comment on the recent developments and said, “The view of the RSS has already been voiced by our chief.”

Simultaneously, former RSS chief KS Sudarshan had added to the BJP miseries by agreeing with Jaswant Singh’s contention that Pakisan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah had been secular nationalist at one point of time in his life. When confronted with the question whether Jinnah had been secular Sudarshan, who had recently retired said, “Jinnah had many facets. Jinnah was with Lokmanya Tilak and was totally dedicated to the nation,” .

Shourie: Will give clarification, ties have not snapped

New Delhi: Asked to explain his outburst against the BJP leadership, Arun Shourie tonight said he would give a clarification and that his ties with the party had not snapped.

“If there is any ambiguiry and the party President and others have asked for clarification, I will clarify. There is no problem,” Shourie told reporters when asked to respond to the party's decision to seek a clarification from him for his utterances. He said he had not received any notice from the party leadership and that he had come to know about it through the media.

“I will see the written document that they would have sent,” he said.

“I am in touch with them. Meri puri tarah se kutti nahi hui (my ties with party have not snapped),” the former Union Minister said. — PTI