Power play in BJP

Amid a nerve-racking countdown to Friday’s election result announcement, ferment was evident in both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, with leaders of internal groups taking tentative positions.

When Nitin Gadkari rejected a proposal to bring him back as BJP’s president, many saw it as his way of ensuring that it was not easy for Rajnath Singh, the current party chief, to accept a government position. A Gadkari supporter categorically said: “NG (his associates call him by that nickname) will not be trapped by Singh.” There’s a perception that a Rajnath Singh-led group within the party is trying to sideline Gadkari.

Uma Bharti, the party’s leader from Uttar Pradesh, was active on Thursday. She met both Singh and Gadkari besides calling on party veteran L K Advani. Varun Gandhi also met top party leaders.

Singh, who also met RSS leaders Suresh Soni and Ram Lal, drew this comment from former Advani aide Sudhindra Kulkarni: “RSS? A cultural organisation?”

The most closely-watched of BJP events on Thursday, however, was Singh’s meeting in the evening with Advani. Party members recalled how Advani had written in his book that he always wanted to become Speaker of the Lok Sabha. But the question was how could a man who had been India’s deputy prime minister be relegated to the level of a Speaker (at best a Cabinet rank). There was also some internal discussion that Advani might be persuaded to accept the chairmanship of a think-tank-like body — akin to the National Advisory Council (NAC) — and, in a way, mentor the new government. But, having attacked the existence of NAC as a parallel policy-making establishment for the past 10 years, party leaders wondered if they would be able to justify creating another such body, if they came to power. They conceded this might be the best option for a person of Advani’s stature, but there was some doubt about how much of the advice offered by such a think-tank would be accepted by Modi, if he were to be the prime minister.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Indications on likely alliances? AIADMK: Expels party leader Malaichamy for saying Narendra Modi is a good leader and AIADMK could work with BJP TMC: Has rejected all speculation that it might support NDA BJD: A minority section wants the party to support NDA but top leaders have said they have a state govt to run and need not support NDA if it forms the central govt TRS: Has announced it will not support BJP, maybe because it needs the Congress more than BJP in state politics YSR Congress: Not averse to working with Modi but hasn’t committed anything yet JD(S): Has in the past supported BJP; its prime rival in state politics is the Congress NCP: Is the Congress’ alliance partner in Maharashtra govt; the state govt will fall if it breaks up with Congress AAP: Has indicated it will neither support the Congress or BJP BSP: has said it cannot go with BJP SP: Is unlikely to support BJP, given contradictions in UP

According to a tentative plan drawn up by Narendra Modi’s supporters, Modi could come to Delhi either on Friday or Saturday and hold a meeting with the party’s Parliamentary board to decide on future plans. He is likely to visit Varanasi and Vadodara on Friday itself. As advance preparations to ensure law and order, the Uttar Pradesh government has banned all victory processions, so Modi might have to again shelve his plan to attend Ganga Aarti and be content with a visit to the Vishvanath temple.

It was a day of activity — albeit less hectic — in the Congress camp, too. The debate was about who should become the leader of Opposition.

The party’s member of Parliament from Delhi, Sandeep Dikshit, presumably accepting defeat even before the result, said the Congress “failed to communicate” with the people. Party president Sonia Gandhi is likely to become the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha — and not Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. For the Upper House, the debate was on choosing between Anand Sharma and Digvijaya Singh. The name of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is an elected Rajya Sabha MP, was not in circulation and MPs reminded reporters that Singh had publicly announced that he was retiring from politics.

Though it is hard to spot the emergence of a ginger group in the Congress, which, according to exit polls, is set to face its worst performance ever, some party leaders said Rahul Gandhi might be attacked, though only indirectly. “Watch out for statements asking Mrs Gandhi to continue as leader of the party and leader of the Opposition, with calls that Manmohan Singh should become leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha,” said a Congress leader from Maharashtra. While ‘Operation Shield Rahul Gandhi’ is on, this will be the surest indication that the party is not yet ready to accept the junior Gandhi and his cronies as its leaders.

Interestingly, in this hour of crisis, the Congress continues to keep its chief ministers at an arm’s length, presumably fearing they might become power centres unto themselves — like Y S Rajashekhar Reddy in the past. At the dinner Sonia Gandhi hosted on Thursday, chief ministers were not invited: It was limited to members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and other party functionaries.

For what it was worth, the Congress president told party leaders not to go by the assessment of exit polls.