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Journalism of Courage
JAIPUR, March 8: Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Rajasthan have blamed the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat government’s style of functioning, the dominance of bureaucracy and “mistakes” in ticket distribution for the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections.
This was the general refrain in the meetings held to identify reasons for the poor showing by the party in the elections and to see what could be done to retrieve the situation before the Assembly polls due later this year.
Chief Minister Shekhawat however, was in Delhi and has not participated in the meetings so far. The rout of the BJP in Rajasthan has come as a shock to the party leadership, particularly because it had left no stone unturned and tried every trick to capture power at the Centre. The Congress, in contrast, had done little to improve its chances. Success came to Congress on a platter.
A BJP leader said that in the party’s history, Rajasthan and Maharashtra would never be forgiven for slipping at a time when the party was sure to havegot a majority in Lok Sabha had it maintained its hold in these two states.
Neither Shekhawat’s group nor the RSS lobby in the State BJP can hold the other fully responsible. If Shekhawat dominates the party and the government, and owns responsibility for the dismal performance, the combined efforts of two powerful ministers of the RSS lobby failed to save the traditional BJP stronghold of Kota.
Resentful leaders in the party blame the top rung of the organisation for its plight and murmurs of dissidence are beginning to be heard once again, among them, criticism of the Shekhawat government for “not listening” to party legislators, workers and even ministers as also for its style of functioning which was dominated by the bureaucracy. Leaders listed shortcomings which had gone unattended. A major reason cited for this was Shekhawat’s intolerance to criticism because of which he had come to be surrounded with yes-men and become dependent on them.
A former party office bearer conceded that the partycould not get proper feedback of the situation on the ground. Some said the party appeared to have got carried away by its own propaganda. Former BJP state president Ramdas Agrawal, who was also in charge of the party’s campaign, issued a statement questioning the party’s dependence on the media for winning elections.
Some party leaders held that some of the ministers who were widely believed to be corrupt or inefficient should be dropped or shunted to restore the government’s image.
“This would send a message most effectively that we want to rectify our mistakes,” said a BJP leader. “But for this, there first has to be an admission that there have been mistakes,” he added.
An MLA said the present round of introspection was unlikely to make any change. “We are going to be reduced to 30-40 seats in the Assembly in the coming elections,” he said ruefully. He believed that the old guard in the party was not looking at its own mistakes or drawbacks and was busy looking for flawselsewhere.
Shekhawat himself, said a BJP leader, was nursing a hurt ego and appeared disinclined to sort out things. “Many things were promised after the revolt by some MLAs last year. Precious little resulted,” said one. State BJP president Raghuvir Singh Kaushal however assured that the matter would be discussed with the Chief Minister and whatever was required could and would be done.
Others felt the Central leadership could perhaps help set things right. They said the matter could be taken up with leaders in Delhi after the first Lok Sabha session, when they would be through with the problems of forming a government and the floor test.
