When PM put his foot down

Today's high-level party meeting chaired by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee had only one aim 8212; to save whatever was left of the BJP8217;s...

Today8217;s high-level party meeting chaired by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee had only one aim 8212; to save whatever was left of the BJP8217;s image. And so it was decided that the allotments should be cancelled.

There was no dissent as Deputy PM L.K. Advani pleaded for swift action to undo the damage to Vajpayee8217;s personal image, pointing out BJP8217;s claim of being 8216;8216;a party with a difference8217;8217; had taken a beating.

At a dinner meeting with BJP MPs at the party headquarters, Advani said allegations of irregularities had been levelled against Congress regimes in the past, but they had shamelessly defended their deeds. On the other hand, the Centre must cancel allotments to keep the party image intact.

Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, Communications Minister Pramod Mahajan, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik and Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj concurred. And Vajpayee, always conscious of his reputation, got ready to strike in the most unprecedented way.

After announcing its decision, the party lost no time in adopting a righteous stand and proclaiming the cancellation was an act of 8216;8216;high morality8217;8217;. BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman Vijay Malhotra even claimed the allotments were being cancelled although no irregularities had been detected. Contesting the charge that the relatives of BJP leaders were the major beneficiaries, he said: 8216;8216;Only 200 cases have come to light while the total allotments are about 3,0008217;8217;. Denying the Centre8217;s action amounted to 8216;8216;admission of guilt8217;8217;, he reiterated there were no irregularities. He said even Congress leaders had benefited from such allotments earlier, but its government had not dared cancel them.

8216;8216;It is a panic reaction by an image-conscious leadership,8217;8217; claimed another senior BJP functionary. On the BJP8217;s sudden U-turn after its vociferous defence of the allotments earlier, he confided that the publication of the UP list by The Indian Express had come as the proverbial last straw. Apart from including the name of a Vajpayee relative, it read like a 8216;8216;who8217;s who8217;8217; of state BJP leaders, he said, adding the leadership then realised no amount of technical explanation would convince anyone the allotments were fair.

There was a general sense of disapproval regarding the allotments among party MPs. In the Rajya Sabha, barring an attempt by S.S. Ahluwalia to argue in favour of the party, none of the other BJP MPs even tried to counter the Opposition attack. In the Lok Sabha, the more vocal defendants of the Government included Shyam Behari Mishra, whose son, Mukul Mishra, was among the allotees.

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Another party leader, requesting anonymity, said the development was a blessing in disguise for the leadership, which had been under constant pressure from MPs for allocation of petrol pumps and LPG dealerships. Along with telephone advisory committees, these had been the main sources of heartburn among BJP MPs, who had complained of a 8216;8216;raw deal8217;8217; in successive meetings of parliamentary party earlier. It was at one such meeting last year that Vajpayee threatened to resign.

Sources said the leadership, fed up with the MPs8217; constant nagging, had informally worked out a system for recommending names of BJP members.