The lonely pracharak in a Shining BJP

Of late, Jana has not been seen at national executive meetings either.

When The Indian Express caught up with him today, Jana was not even in Chennai — he was right here at his Tughlaq Lane residence. True to his self, Jana was dismissive of the suggestions that he had turned into recluse or had been sidelined. In fact, he tried to rationalise his low profile saying that he had been down with pneumonia for two months.

A ‘‘pracharak,’’ Jana was installed as the party president after Bangaru was forced by the party to step down from office. He was the senior-most vice-president at that time.

Jana’s fate appeared to have been sealed in April 2002. Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, speaking to the media during the national executive at Goa on April 13, 2002, stated that some leaders from the party may move to the government and some others may shift from the government to the party. He also indicated that the changes could take place a month later. However, Jana did not buy the idea. Instead, he filled all party posts without any intake from the government and went on to add an additional layer of zonal chiefs by clubbing state units to form a total of five zones.

And subsequently, Jana had to bow out of office. The party devised a face-saving formula for his exit by inducting him in to the cabinet. Jana demanded and got the law portfolio. However, he resigned from the ministry when the Prime Minister proposed to divest him of law and substitute it with culture. Thereafter, he withdrew from the scene.

Jana may be both down and out, but the commitment of a ‘‘pracharak’’ is still alive. He plans to go to Ahmedabad on April 20 to cast his vote for the BJP candidate. Would anyone other than a person with this level of commitment do it?