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Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
Resentment is brewing in the Bharatiya Janata Party over the recent reorganisation of the party set-up and the Cabinet reshuffle, which saw several senior leaders being overlooked.
Mostly, the anger is aimed at Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani who is being seen as the chief architect of the reorganisation exercise.
Two senior BJP leaders, who did not wish to be identified, told rediff.com that although an impression was sought to be conveyed that the revamp was carried out by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, it was not so.
Advani's attempt to infuse young blood into the party, the leaders said, left a trail of discontent among senior party members.
Among those who were ignored by Advani were Union Human Resources Development Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and senior leaders Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Madan Lal Khurana.
While Dr Joshi was widely expected to be appointed the party chief, Malhotra and Khurana were looking for a Cabinet berth.
Other senior party functionaries who were left out in the cold were BJP general secretary Pyarelal Khandelwal and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Rajnath Singh.
After Rajnath Singh was denied the post of coordinator in UP, he was given to understand by the high command that he would be accommodated in the party's central unit.
Rajya Sabha MP and former chief of the BJP's UP unit Kalraj Mishra is also awaiting a ministerial berth.
Venkaiah Naidu's appointment as the national party chief has caused considerable heartburn in Andhra Pradesh.
The Tamil Nadu BJP unit, which has only marginal clout in the state, is also up in arms at the "shabby treatment" meted out to K Jana Krishnamurthi who was "unceremoniously " replaced by Naidu.
In Madhya Pradesh, the central leadership's plan to send Union minister Uma Bharati to look after the party affairs and give additional responsibility to Vasundhararaje Scindia has upset state leaders.
And this is not all, more dissatisfaction among party members is bound to surface once Naidu announces the composition of his new team.
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