BJP washes its hands of George8217;s stand8230;

Other senior BJP leaders too blamed Fernandes for speaking out of turn creating a controversy no one wanted at this juncture. 8220;Whatever Fernandes said may be true. But this was no time to issue such a statement8221; said a BJP general secretary. Another senior leader blamed him of suffering from quot;verbal diarrhoeaquot; and a tendency to hog media headlines without caring for fallout of his remarks.

Party8217;s Central Election Management Committee which met here today too discussed the issue and is learnt to have decided to disassociate itself from George8217;s remarks.8220;Its beyond comprehension. How can he absolve ISI and Sharif? If he thinks Pak Army is so powerful that it could bypass the Prime Minister, won8217;t people ask why did Vajpayee sign Lahore declaration with Sharif and not with the Pak military chief?8221; asked a former Union Minister.

BJP leaders had initially defended George8217;s comments but changed its stand on finding almost all opposition parties baying for his blood for quot;reckless commentsquot;. The party seems to have realised that the statement may harm them politically at polls.