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Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja on Saturday said the reports on the national executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party indicate that all is not well with the main opposition party, which is having a lot of organisational, political and ideological problems.
Though stating that he had nothing to comment on the BJP's internal matters, Raja added: "Somehow, these internal matters are coming to public domain. So people keep speaking about that, media keeps discussing those internal matters. It shows all is not well in BJP. BJP is in disarray, BJP is having lot of organisational problems and political and ideological problems."
Several BJP leaders, including party veteran Lal Krishna Advani, gave the two-day national executive meet in Goa a miss.
Advani's absence from the office bearer's meeting in Goa has given rise to speculation that he is upset with the proposal of making Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi the face of the party's poll campaign panel.
Some reports in the media, quoting Advani, suggest that he is insisting that BJP president Rajnath Singh should take key party decisions only in his presence.
Advani earlier on Friday skipped an important session of the 12 office-bearers of BJP. According to certain media reports, a chartered flight that was hired to take Advani to Goa this morning for the party's national executive was cancelled.
Some senior BJP leaders are also opposed to Modi being projected as the party's foremost leader. Jaswant Singh, Uma Bharti, Maneka Gandhi, Varun Gandhi and Shatrughan Sinha are among those not attending the Goa conclave.
Sending out a strong message that there is no conflict within the outfit, Rajnath Singh yesterday said Advani is unwell and will be attending the national executive meet tomorrow.
"Due to Advaniji's ill-health, I told him not to attend the meet today. He will reach Goa tomorrow," he told mediapersons here, when asked about Advani's absence.
BJP Vice President Smriti Irani said that the Parliamentary Board of the party would take a final decision on whether Modi would head the party's poll panel.
"Well, we all know what the Goa Chief Minister wants, we all know what the nation wants and what the workers want. But let me humbly remind you as the office bearer of Bharatiya Janata Party that ultimately our national president Rajnathji has said that we all have to wait and see what the parliamentary board wants," said Irani.
Ahead of the BJP national executive meet, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parikkar had come out strongly in support of Modi, and said that the latter should lead the BJP's election campaign.
Modi's detractors fear that his elevation as chief of the party's election committee is just one step away from him being declared the BJP's prime ministerial candidate - a position some of them believe they deserve.
