New Delhi, April 1
Despite BJP president Rajnath Singh’s best efforts to balance the demands of his senior colleagues and meet the aspirations of various factions, the party’s organisational rejig has left many senior leaders high and dry. While there is a substantial debate on senior leaders Yaswant Sinha and Jaswant Singh being ignored, another striking deletion from the panel - that of former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Shanta Kumar, whose name, incidentally, was once doing rounds as a potential presidential candidate - is also being widely discussed.

What is worst for Kumar is that while he has been dropped as vice president, Anurag Thakur, son of his political adversary Prem Kumar Dhumal, continues to be Yuva Morcha chief. Analysts say factional feud damaged the party’s prospects in the last Assembly elections in Himachal but Shanta Kumar seems to have paid a bigger price.

BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar has defended the decision saying that former chief ministers, including Shanta Kumar and Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (both Uttarakhand), have been included in the national executive committee. Like Kumar, Koshyari and Nishank were also the vice presidents in the outgoing team.

“The new team has a fair representation of all sections of society and regions and will bring about the change in government that people want in the next polls,” he said.

The party’s attempt to bring Hindutva back in focus with the inclusion of firebrand leader Uma Bharti and elevation of Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi as general secretary has not gone down well with “Hindutva icon” Vinay Katiyar. Left out of the core team, Katiyar has attributed Varun’s elevation to his Gandhi surname.

While Congress leaders have criticised the inclusion of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi into the Parliamentary Board and that of his confidante Amit Shah as general secretary, former BJP ideologue KN Govindacharya has also criticised the decision. According to Govindacharya, Modi’s inclusion was a proof that the party lacks direction. “Modi was in the Parliamentary Board six years ago and bringing him back was no big deal or strategy,” said Govindacharya.

While what Govindacharya says may be inconsequential for the party but disenchantment among an important section of the senior leadership - former minister Yashwant Sinha, senior UP leader Kalraj Mishra and Shanta Kumar - will be difficult to ignore.

Incidentally, BJP’s big Hindutva thrust did not see any Muslim being made general secretary. While Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi remains a vice president, three-time MP Shahnawaz Hussain, who had been aspiring to be elevated to the post of the general secretary, continues as a spokesperson. Najma Heptullah, who was vice president, has just been accommodated in the national executive council.

Dropping of star campaigner Navjot Sidhu from the core team is also being viewed with scepticism. Sources say that Sidhu was “too busy” to actively participate in the day-to-day functioning of the party.