CHANDIGARH, Nov 5: The recent happenings in the City BJP have not only led to increased friction and acrimony among the party men, but also affected its image besides threatening to shrink its support base.Though the issue of local infighting has been taken up with the Central leaders, they have chosen not to intervene until now. Worried at this stance, some discerning party men feel that unless the crisis is resolved, the party will take a beating from the electorate in the coming months.The BJP's problems stem from the rivalry between the supporters of City Mayor Gian Chand Gupta and local MP Satya Pal Jain. Though differences between the two have existed for a long time, they have never reached a stage where charges and counter-charges are hurled openly.As expected, the rift between these factions has surfaced on contentious issues such as the distribution of party tickets during the elections and the shelved paid parking proposal. The parking issue has even seen the expulsion of a municipal councillor, straining relations beyond repair.Interestingly, the two factions have drawn battlelines to gain supremacy over each other and last week's resignation of senior deputy mayor Prem Sagar Jain, who is supported by the faction led by Satya Pal Jain, has put Gian Chand Gupta's faction on a defensive.Many, however, consider the resignation to be a "political move'' since his term was ending in December anyway. Insiders say that the deputy mayor did not want to go through the humiliation of accepting notices on "trivial issues'' and provide explanations.Undeterred, the Jain faction is pushing ahead for the ouster of Mayor Gian Chand Gupta and Chandigarh BJP President Dharam Paul Gupta, even as the mayor and the president harp on the issue of party discipline.They allege that the local party leadership has been acting "arbitrarily'' and the City unit is functioning as a "one-man show''. They claim that they are not being consulted on decisions, forcing them to boycott the routine meetings convened by the rival faction.The mayor's detractors also want him to prove his majority in the 29-member house of the corporation. Not willing to oblige them, he continues to claim that he has the majority and says that there is no need for him to prove it.While the BJP factions slug it out, the opposition parties are taking full advantage of the situation by taking up the same issues which the mayor's detractors are raising.The City Congress has already reaped a harvest by increasing its strength to four councillors from one in the Municipal Corporation, and turning the BJP into a minority party in the house.Not to be left behind, the BJP's alliance partner in the Municipal Corporation, the Shiromani Akali Dal, has staked a claim to the post of senior deputy mayor for the coming year.The Akalis have also demanded active involvement in the decision-making process, even as the factional rivalry between the Jains and the Guptas overshadows the real issues of governance.
