BJP has become leaders’ fief, says Sangh veteran

The ongoing RSS national executive may be keeping a studied silence on the affairs of the BJP but Sangh veteran Nanaji Deshmukh today lashed...

The ongoing RSS national executive may be keeping a studied silence on the affairs of the BJP but Sangh veteran Nanaji Deshmukh today lashed out at the entire political class and refused to spare his erstwhile Jana Sangh colleagues Atal Behari Vajpayee and L.K.Advani.

“No political party works for the country or the people. They are only interested in power,” Deshmukh said. Asserting that leaders do not represent parties but parties have become fiefdoms of leaders, he said, ‘‘Laloo has his own party, Mayawati has her own party, Sonia has her own party, Mulayam has his party and Lalji-Atalji have their own party.”

When pointed out that Advani and Vajpayee were set to retire from the BJP leadership, Deshmukh retorted, “After they retire, their ‘chelas’ will take over.” Would he like Advani and Vajpayee to join him in his social work after they retired from politics? “I need young people to run my projects. What will I do with old men?” he replied.

The RSS national executive, meanwhile, passed two resolutions today, harping on their pet themes of “infiltration” in the North-East and the dangers of the UPA government’s Kashmir initiative.

It came out against the proposal to pull back Indian troops from Siachen and said there were apprehensions that “Bharat will be asked to demilitarize Baramullah and Kupwara districts in the Valley.” The government’s Kashmir initiative “has shifted focus away from Pak-occupied-Kashmir to the Indian state of J&K,” it alleged.