Too Many Chefs At 'Work' In BJP Kitchen !

 

BY R.K.MISRA

The froth in the broth is a clear sign of a ‘cereal killer’ in the kitchen !

And there are many chefs on the loose in the BJP cookhouse in Gujarat to set off smoke alarms. Similar brews in the election-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh besides Karnataka  is symptomatic of a deeper malaise warning the national BJP leadership of pitfalls ahead.

If  Jyotiraditya Scindia  who switched sides to pull down the Kamalnath- led Congress remains at the core of the internecine fights raging within the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, it is the ongoing sidelining of  Vasundhara Raje that is muddying the waters in Rajasthan and the benching of former  chief minister Raman Singh likewise in Chhattisgarh. Allegations levelled by a BJP MP of collusion politics between the ruling Congress and a section of the vanquished BJP leadership  is fuelling fires all its own in Karnataka, while the oblique targeting of Nitin Gadkari, the Maharashtra stalwart with a reputation for efficiency and candour provides a pointer to the shape of things to come.

For now, this is about Gujarat. A catfight of sorts involving  high profile party leaders at a public function in Jamnagar last week hogged headlines , bringing out the  simmering disquiet  in popular glare. Rivabha Jadeja who is a first time legislator of the BJP and whose  claim to fame rests in the stardom of her husband cricketer Ravindra Jadeja was seen  publicly upbraiding two-times party MP, Poonamben Madaam and the city mayor Binaben Kothari. The incident unfolded during a party function held to commemorate the ‘mera desh,meri mitti’ programme on Thursday last.

A video clip of the unseemly scrap that went viral on social media only added fuel to the grist mill. Apparently Rivaba appeared enraged and told the mayor to ’stay within her limits’. Earlier she had an ‘exchange’ with  the member of Parliament. Rivaba’s version was that the MP had called her ‘oversmart’ after she took-off her footwear to pay respect to the martyrs at the public event. Madaam sought to play it down terming it a mere misunderstanding. However a  visibly hurt mayor Binaben called a press conference next day to voice her anguish . The issue reached the city party chief and thereon to the state BJP president C.R. Patil.

This was one of many incidents of discontent within the Gujarat BJP which have been bubbling up to the surface with religious regularity in recent times. These acquire  added importance because the state is the home turf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union Home Minister Amit Shah and thus constantly in their sharp sights.

Earlier this month three office-bearers of the BJP from South Gujarat were arrested on charges of defaming  their own state party chief  C.R.Patil who hails from the same region. The Surat district BJP suspended the three.

 leaflets had been brought out levelling allegations against the state party chief and the leaflet along with pen drives ,reportedly containing ‘supporting’ evidence were delivered to key party leaders within the state as well as to the  national leadership. The Police in Surat thereafter registered a n FIR on the basis of a complaint filed by party legislator Sandip Desai. The controversy started when an Ahmedabad-based BJP member was arrested by the Crime branch for attempting to blackmail Patil, alleging irregularities in the management of party funds. Later inquiries revealed  that some other senior party leaders in South Gujarat were involved  and with the cops on the scene, things acquired an altogether new dimension revealing the innards of an inner-party conspiracy.

Caught in the quagmire was the all-powerful general secretary of  state unit Pradipsinh Vaghela who was asked to put in his papers though it was dressed up as a voluntary affair due to personal reasons. Sources spoke of a pamphlet against Vaghela in circulation which was unofficially being probed by the Special Operations Group of the Gujarat police,allegedly at his own behest. This had led to stirring up a hornet’s nest  in government circles as to authorization after the cops summoned  some important functionaries for questioning. The first casualty, though, took place four months ago when Bhargava Bhatt, general secretary of the central zone  quit.

In another of the sequential events lining the road of dissent, BJP corporator Alpesh Limbachiya was arrested on charges of mailing copies of an anonymous letter to party leaders that accused the Vadodara mayor of corruption. His brother-in-law  and some others were subsequently arrested and Lambachiya who was leader of the ruling party in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation resigned his post. There are numerous other examples, the list is long and the purge still continues. The top brass in Delhi has gone to work after matters were brought to the Prime Minister’s notice. An overhaul of the party set-up in the state is on the cards.

Those who want to live life  with a spice, better remember complaints to the cook can be hazardous to your health ! 

This syndicated news column was published in the respective newspapers edition dated  August 22,2023 whose links are given below.

http://epaper.lokmat.com/lokmattimes/main-editions/Nagpur%20Main/2023-08-22/6

http://odishapostepaper.com/edition/4614/orissapost/page/9