Party CMs don’t listen when Advani rings bell

A day after BJP general secretary Sanjay Joshi resigned on a sleaze charge and soon after L K Advani said the BJP was going through a ‘‘bad patch,’’ the party’s chief ministers submitted report cards that ignored dissidence back home, gave glowing records of governance and complained of neglect by the Congress-led government at the Centre.

Despite Advani repeatedly ringing a bell to interrupt rambling CMs and reminding the speakers—after Jharkhand CM Arjun Munda’s speech—to stick to ‘‘outstanding’’ examples of governance, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan pleaded for extra time because he was a ‘‘new CM.’’ Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje said she was the ‘‘only woman CM,’’ ignored his bell, and ended only after Advani interrupted.

Skipping the digging up of skeletons, allegedly of missing post-Godhra riot victims in Panchamahals, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi focussed on state’s rebuilding efforts after the 2001 Bhuj earthquake.

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Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Modi said his state was ‘‘hit by 15 tsunamis’’ during RJD’s regime and complained that the Centre was blocking World Bank funding for state projects.

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Chouhan bragged about 13,000 km of roads laid in the last two years and promised to protect cows from slaughter.