PATNA, MARCH 16: The transfer of Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari to Gujarat has opened yet another set of problems for the Bihar BJP, with a section of state leaders blaming the party leadership and office-bearers for his removal from the state.In a letter to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, they have reportedly claimed that Bhandari was `wrongly' briefed in the matter of his speech during the joint Assembly session. They are also said to have sought changes in the top leadership.A senior BJP leader told The Indian Express: ``Bhandari is not at all scared of the jibes of the RJD. He was mentally prepared to continue, though at one stage he had offered to resign. But he was not willing to read the speech prepared by the state government during the joint session.''However, according to a guideline prepared by the Presiding Officers' Convention, a state government cannot put anything in the Governor's speech that goes against him. Bhandari, reportedly, was not aware of this.According tosources, BJP leader Sushil Mody was among those who had talked to Bhandari on the matter. While reacting to the Governor's transfer, Mody had told The Indian Express that they had evolved a strategy to meet the situation. It was planned that Bhandari would do what a West Bengal Government did in 1969 and skip any paragraphs condemning his actions. But Bhandari reportedly remained sceptical.At one stage, his secretary is said to have contacted the Parliamentary Affairs Secretary to obtain a copy of the prepared speech, but failed. The Governor reportedly also got in touch with Chairman of Bihar Legislative Council Jabir Hussain for his suggestions and is said to have been assured that there was nothing derogatory in the speech against him.The partymen who have written to Vajpayee feel the state leadership wanted Bhandari to be soft towards the expelled BJP leaders. In fact, one of the prominent expelled leaders, Tarakant Jha, was a guest of the Governor on the day the Prime Minister toured Biharon March 8. He even had lunch with Vajpayee, courtesy Bhandari.In their letter, the leaders have also accused the top leaders of failing to capitalise on Vajpayee's visit to the state.
