Row in BJP over entry of tainted leader

The induction of DP Yadav, a history-sheeter in Uttar Pradesh, into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has exposed chinks in the Sangh Parivar's armour on the eve of elections.

In the higher echelons of the BJP, the blame-game has begun to disown Yadav whose name figures in over 30 criminal cases.

Obviously, BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan had never bargained for an intense hostile reaction of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and a strong section of the BJP when he introduced Yadav as a new entrant in the party in the presence of BJP chief M Venkaiah Naidu last week.

But since then, senior BJP leaders are facing a dilemma in defending their actions. RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said induction of any person with dubious identity would affect those claiming to have "clean image". In essence, the RSS leadership has conveyed its anguish in unambiguous terms.

What appears to have put them on defensive is the fact that the party's top two leaders""Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani- have washed their hands of the issue. In Lucknow, Vajpayee faced persistent queries from the media as to whether he approved of Yadav's induction into the BJP.

"No criminals be allowed to enter the politics," he said while being evasive on most of the searching queries. By all indication, Vajpayee was cornered on the question of the BJP's image as a party free of criminals.

On the other hand, Advani has given enough indications to suggest that he had never endorsed the move to induct Yadav into the BJP.

Though Advani kept silent on the issue, he is learnt to have inquired about the circumstances in which Yadav was taken into the party.

Sources in the BJP say the party leadership is planning to get rid off Yadav before the polls to retrieve the lost ground.

But a section of BJP leaders refused to buy the theory that such a crucial decision was not taken without consulting Vajpayee and Advani.

"This is just impossible that Vajpayee and Advani were not briefed," said a senior BJP leader who appeared perturbed over the turn of events. Senior party leaders admit that since Vajpayee takes a keen interest in UP affairs, he must have been briefed.

What appears to have taken the BJP's top leadership by surprise is the apprehension of an intense political backlash of the middle-class voters to which the BJP has packaged itself as "party with a difference".

In west and central UP, which account for 40 Lok Sabha seats, the party leadership has got a feedback from its cadre that its much hyped "feel-good factor" has been substantially neutralised in urban and suburban regions of the state after Yadav's induction.

What appears to have complicated the BJP's problem in UP is the growing perception among people about the BJP that it will not hesitate to patronise criminals if it helps it to grab power.

In the successive state governments headed by Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh, about a dozen gangsters having criminal records were inducted in the government as ministers.

Rajnath Singh's patronage to Tada detenue and independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh and a Brahmin gangster Harishankar Tiwary of east UP is a known fact. The manner in which Yadav's induction was justified by Mahajan has made a serious dent in the BJP's image.