Wining and dining

Once a cadre-based outfit, the BJP is well and truly becoming a mass-based party. The winds of change are also evident in the manner in which new recruits conduct themselves. During a recent rally organised by the party8217;s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani at Moradabad, Harish Nagpal, who switched camps on the eve of the July 22 trust vote, showed why he is known as the liquor baron in Uttar Pradesh. While Advani and other BJP leaders held forth on issues of national importance, Nagpal used other material means to charm the visiting mediapersons. Apart from some heady beverages, he offered them safari suits as a 8220;token of affection8221;. While one is not sure if this marks the dawn of a new culture in a party which swears by probity in public life, certain BJP functionaries in the party headquarters had a ready explanation. 8220;Do you refuse the refreshments that we offer you after the press briefing?8221; they asked.