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From
Tehelka Magazine, Vol 9, Issue 17, Dated 28 April 2012 |
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| CURRENT AFFAIRS |
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NITIN GADKARI |
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The fund manager’s stock plummets
Nitin Gadkari’s focus on filling the BJP war chest has come at the cost of political nous and the party is scouting for a replacement, says Bhavdeep Kang
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Falling out of favour RSS supremo Bhagwat has finally run out of patience with Gadkari
Photo: AP |
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THE QUESTION of who will lead the BJP in 2014 has been thrown wide open once again, with party chief Nitin Gadkari under pressure in the wake of the recent Rajya Sabha and Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. The confidence the RSS reposed in Gadkari has been diluted in the past couple of months, to the extent that a meeting of RSS brass held after its annual Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha last month, put him on notice.
Insiders say the Nagpur meeting has significantly eroded Gadkari’s position. The session was attended by the 11 regional heads of the RSS as well as the national executive. None of the 31 participants — apart from the BJP chief and organising secretary — minced words regarding the BJP’s state of affairs. Feelings ran so high that one of them broke down and was unable to speak further. The Karnataka representative held the BJP central leadership responsible for internal divisions in the state unit.
RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat observed that they could not wait “indefinitely” for the BJP to sort itself out. Gadkari’s response, that the RSS perception was different from the BJP reality, cut no ice. His insistence on offering a platform to tainted former UP health minister Babu Lal Kushwaha during the Assembly polls was seen as a big error of judgement. While the RSS brass may have no problem with Gadkari personally — after all, he has a long-standing relationship with them — it cannot be seen to endorse a dilution of moral standards.
Prior to the UP polls, the RSS had made up its mind to continue with Gadkari as it “did not want a museum of ex-BJP presidents”. Leaders close to Gadkari held “off-the-record” briefings with journalists who were informed that the party constitution would be amended to allow him a second term. The situation has now changed and a hunt is on for a credible face.
The RSS is unlikely to look towards the Centre for a successor, but the states offer a number of choices that are being actively considered, including chief ministers Raman Singh, Manohar Parrikar (whose name was in circulation the last time), Prem Kumar Dhumal (although age goes against him) and Shivraj Singh Chauhan and deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi. Although Gujarat CM Narendra Modi could also be a candidate now that he has been cleared by the SIT, he is understood to be reluctant to leave the state.
The inordinate delay in holding the national executive, normally convened every three-five months, (there were three in 2011) is being questioned. The last was held in New Delhi, in September 2011. Rumour has it that it will be held in June but no date has yet been fixed. The outspoken censure of Gadkari’s style of functioning, like his offer to back controversial businessman Anshuman Mishra for a Rajya Sabha seat, promises a stormy session and may explain his reluctance to convene it.
Also, he needs to mend fences with Modi, to ensure that he attends the national executive, having skipped the last one. Gadkari has relied too heavily on his mandate from the RSS, at the cost of his relationship with other party leaders. His troubles with Modi are well known; the two have been at loggerheads even before Modi’s bête noire, Sanjay Joshi, was drafted to help in the UP polls. The long-standing schism with LK Advani has also cost him dearly. In fact, the Mishra episode infused new life into Advani, who nixed BJP support to the businessman, underlining his continuing relevance in the party.
Gadkari’s troubles started with the abortive induction of Kushwaha, summarily sacked by BSP chief Mayawati, before the UP polls. The attempt to bring him on board would seem to have more to do with his considerable financial standing than his ability to garner votes.
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Gadkari’s endorsement of Anshuman Mishra — who has close links with Congress leaders — for an RS seat was the last straw |
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Even post-Kushwaha, Gadkari has not changed his style of functioning. During a meeting to finalise candidates for the Delhi municipal polls, he was heard asking a local leader whether the aspirant for a West Delhi seat was the same man who had helped fund the Uttarakhand polls. The answer was in the affirmative. Despite strong opposition on the grounds of the man’s dodgy image, he was given a ticket.
This had led to a perception that the BJP has never been more accommodative of big-money players than it is now, often at the cost of its credibility and electoral prospects. Gadkari himself takes pride in being a successful businessman. In his maiden meeting with the staff at 11, Ashoka Road, he puffed off his “ Rs 2,000 crore ka dimaag”. At a later meeting with the press, he declaimed his ability to raise thousands of crores from the market.
Gadkari’s name has popped up in association with 2G scam accused Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka. The two reportedly met him in June 2010 to lobby for a Rajya Sabha seat — without success, as it turned out. The seat went to a liquor baron.
Gadkari has surrounded himself with two kinds of people: first, mainstream party workers who are beholden to him and lightweight enough not to pose a threat and second, businessmen like Ajay Sancheti. As Gadkari’s protégé, the BJP national executive member was given a Rajya Sabha seat while many other claimants were overlooked. Sancheti is known for his generosity in top RSS and BJP circles.
When the nomination became public, a senior RSS office-bearer rushed to the Sangh HQ in Nagpur, where he revealed that he had a long-standing financial dispute with Sancheti. He was given short shrift. Sancheti has since been under fire after a CAG report on the allotment of a coal block at a throwaway price in Chhattisgarh in 2007. The BJP’s defence, that Gadkari had nothing to do with it as he was not party chief at the time, has been weak.
THE LAST straw was his endorsement of Mishra. Given Mishra’s close links with Congress leaders, this evoked no small surprise in BJP circles. When pressure from the BJP’s central and Jharkhand leadership forced Gadkari to renege on his promise of support, Mishra went to town, levelling allegations against BJP leaders. He apologised later, but the damage was done.
What is less known is the manner in which Mishra’s brother Rajeev became the party’s nominee from the newly carved out Rampur Karkhana constituency in Deoria in UP. In the central election committee (CEC) meeting, a senior party leader objected. Sources said Gadkari justified the ticket by saying his claim was supported by a “survey”. When asked whether the report in question was a ‘funding survey’ or the ‘genuine survey’, Gadkari quipped that it was the former. Miffed, she asked why, if it was a done deal, his candidature had been brought up in the CEC meeting at all. There was no further discussion. Rajeev obtained 17,000 votes while independent Girijesh Shahi had 45,000!
The BJP’s funding shortage for the UP polls may well have been partly due to the fact that it was seen as a no-hoper and partly because the state governments could not ante up. Karnataka, always generous in the past according to sources close to former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, was under close watch by the media. The Gujarat CM was openly miffed with Gadkari. Uttarakhand was facing simultaneous polls and Himachal Pradesh had to prepare for polls later in the year. It must be noted that the shortage of funds did not prevent the party from hiring a dozen private planes, in addition to helicopters, in which to ferry its leaders around in UP.
It is nobody’s case that a party can march on ideology alone. Giving primacy to fund-raising, however, can severely hamstring the BJP as a responsible Opposition and most of all, accentuate its public image as a party of “baniyas” rather than the poor. Gadkari, although not a member of the community, has done just that.
bhavkang@gmail.com
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