NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Rediff Shopping

Shop & gift from thousands of products!   Books     Music       Apparel   Jewellery   Flowers   More..      Safe Shopping

PM will tighten grip on BJP at Nagpur

Tara Shankar Sahay in Nagpur

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is all set to consolidate his grip and dispel doubts about his supremacy in the party and government during the three-day national council session of the Bharatiya Janata Party beginning in Nagpur on Saturday.

"If it can be summed up in one sentence, the Nagpur national council session will reaffirm its faith in Vajpayeeji's leadership and prove that his writ runs in both the party and government," BJP spokesman M Venkaiah Naidu told rediff.com

Venkaiah Naidu pointed out that the political and economic resolutions to be adopted at the Nagpur session would prove that the government's policies complement the party's goals and both are attuned to each other.

"Some media reports had earlier said differences among the BJP members would crop up at the Nagpur session. But I can tell you that various resolutions will be unanimously adopted. There are no differences. But of course, the session will be characterised by lively debate and discussion," the spokesman asserted.

He ridiculed suggestions that disgruntled members of the BJP's extended family -- the Sangh Parivar -- would voice opposition to the government's policy of economic liberalisation, especially on divestment.

Despite Naidu's assertions, the BJP is believed to have reworked its strategy for the session to silence critics within the party and make it known that liberalisation is irreversible.

The BJP's 'swadeshi' lobby has not spared even the prime minister, accusing him of sacrificing domestic economic interests under 'videshi' (foreign) pressure.

Significantly, on August 10, the mouthpiece of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Swadeshi magazine, wrote that various ministers of the Vajpayee government, including the prime minister, had become "power-drunk", which was why Indian interests were being adversely affected.

"My understanding is that there will be no back-tracking from the government's policies, whether they are economic or political. I think the Nagpur session will confirm this," Naidu contended.

Union Minister for Culture Ananth Kumar, from whose official residence Swadeshi is published, is understood to have been upbraided by the BJP leadership for his role in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's attack on the prime minister.

BJP sources asserted that "if people are expecting any spectacular upsets at Nagpur, they will be disappointed. The members of the Sangh Parivar will fall in line [with the government's policies]."

But, significantly, the SJM has shifted its office from Ananth Kumar's residence to a flat on North Avenue, indicating that the pro-RSS section will not jettison its swadeshi line in a hurry. BJP Member of Parliament Suresh Chandel said, "We have strong reservations about certain economic policies of the Centre and they persist." He indicated that some party members would raise the matter at Nagpur.

In response, the BJP sources said the prime minister could crack the whip. Senior party member Uma Bharati's resignation and her reported resolve to quit politics, for her alleged disgruntlement at not being accommodated in the Cabinet, have already given the lie to the myth of a "cadre-based, disciplined" party. Then there are senior party politicians like Madan Lal Khurana and Sahib Singh Verma (both former chief ministers of Delhi) who periodically criticise government policies.

"The Nagpur session is a good forum for the prime minister to tell party members that indiscipline will not be tolerated. He will warn the members to quash any further acts of defiance," said BJP MP Ram Tahal Chaudhary.

The sources said a separate resolution on Jammu & Kashmir was likely, wherein Kargil and the government's recent peace talks with the Hizbul Mujahideen would be mentioned.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report