Rift in BJP over new Jkhand chief

BJP president Rajnath Singhs decision appointing Ravindra Rai as partys Jharkhand unit chief appears to have created rift within the party with senior party leader Yashwant Sinha

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BJP president Rajnath Singhs decision appointing Ravindra Rai as partys Jharkhand unit chief appears to have created rift within the party with senior party leader Yashwant Sinha making his displeasure clear to party leadership on the decision that appear to have given former chief minister Arjun Munda an upper hand in party affairs in the state.

Party sources confided that Sinha vented his anger over the move during a meeting of senior parliamentary party leaders attended by L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj among others on Monday.

Claiming that there was a resentment within the Jharkhand unit over the move,Sinha sent a veiled threat to part ways with the party wondering whether party needed his services at all. Rajnath Singh,who was away in Kolkata,was learnt to have sought to defuse the tension enquiring with Sinha about his reservations against the move but was also learnt to have indicated that the decision was final and binding.

Sinhas anger stems from that fact that Munda got his way to appoint loyalist Rai as party unit chief by mounting pressure on the leadership threatening to resign from the partys legislature unit leaders post disregarding Sinhas suggestion of Raghuvar Das. The sources said Sinha was also not averse to heading the state unit but proposed Dass name in the wake of reservations against his own name.

Mundas success in getting past Sinhas objection appears to have only added to the rivalry between the two where Munda succeeded in becoming the chief minister despite Advani suggesting Sinhas name.

The decision is also a resurgence of sorts for Ravindra Rai. The former industries minister had left the BJP along with Babulal Marandi to join the JVM Prajatantrik in 2006,leading to his disqualification from the Assembly in 2009. Arjun Munda had moved the petition to the Speaker for Rais removal. Five sitting legislators of the BJP left with Marandi,but Rai was back in 2009.

Rais appointment also balances the tribal/caste formula followed by the BJP and the Congress here. The parties are conscious to project two major leaders a tribal and an upper caste. Rai,a Bhumihar,will then only complement Mundas attempt to wield influence over partys candidates selection in case of early election in the state.