BJP’s Modi snub to appease anti-CM sections

In fact, the central leadership – even while seeking to cut Modi down to size – has refrained from taking him head on. That is why Rajnath was careful not to accommodate either Patel or Rana (or any of their supporters) in the various central panels announced in Monday’s reshuffle. The decision to drop Sanjay Joshi – who has had a history of bad blood with Modi – from the all-powerful post of general secretary (organisation) was also a sop of sorts towards the Gujarat CM, although the main reason was the RSS’s decision to get rid of the “sleaze CD” taint that continued to dog Joshi.

At the same time, sources said, the RSS top brass has been flooded with complaints against Modi’s “style of functioning” from their own cadres for the past few years. It is well known that despite Modi’s hardline Hindutva credentials, there is little love lost between the Gujarat CM and VHP boss and fellow Gujarati Pravin Togadia .

But what finally prompted the RSS and Rajnath to drop Modi from the parliamentary board was information that the state VHP has been sending feelers to expelled BJP leader Uma Bharati to campaign in the state against Modi, sources said.

“The VHP, RSS and BJP cadres are so bitter with Modi right now that if amends are not made, they could sabotage the BJP’s election campaign from within and help Uma Bharati’s Bharatiya Janshakti Party,” a BJP insider said, adding that even if Uma was no match for Modi, her candidates could secure enough votes to ensure the BJP’s defeat.

Besides, the BJP’s internal feedback is that the Congress party is not as moribund as it was some years ago. The huge turnout of adivasis at Sonia Gandhi’s recent rally at Dahod is only one indication of the slow revival of the Congress in Gujarat. The Muslims of Gujarat may be too petrified to come out openly against the state government, but at the time of elections, they would certainly vote for the Congress. If the BJP vote gets divided in the state – either because of Uma Bharati or due to the indifference of the party’s cadres in galvanising support for Modi – the Congress could recoup on the strength of even a partial revival of its old KHAM (kshatriya, harijan, adivasi,Muslim) combine, Sangh insiders fear.

Under the circumstances, the RSS and BJP central leaders decided to appease Modi’s detractors in the Sangh Parivar in Gujarat by dropping him from the CPB. “It is a way of telling BJP, RSS, and VHP cadres that Modi is not all-powerful, he is not above the party,” a source said.

On a lesser scale, the same message was sought to be send out to Arun Jaitley. If Modi has had his way in all appointments in Gujarat, Jaitley has been given a free hand in ticket distribution in Punjab. But Jaitley’s articulate briefings and debriefings are viewed with suspicion by many BJP leaders and therefore, he was divested of his high-profile spokesperson status, sources said.

While the reshuffle does indicate that Rajnath Singh, having secured a full three-year term as party chief, has decided to assert himself a little more than he did in the past, the imprint of the RSS is written all over the new appointments.

Apart from the exclusions, the RSS hand is clearly visible in the inclusions as well. The appointment of RSS strongman Ram Lal to replace Sanjay Joshi, the elevation of Bal Apte to the CPB, the promotion for RSS insider Prabhat Jha to the post of secretary and OP Kohli to parliamentary office secretary are among the more important decisions taken at the behest of the RSS.