Sitting in Gujarat, Narendra Modi is slowly but steadily tightening his grip on Delhi. With the announcement of BJP’s central election campaign committee, Modi has finally demonstrated that unofficially, he is the man in charge.
Of the 12-member central parliamentary board which will select the party’s candidate for prime minister, nine are on the election campaign committee and will report directly to Modi.
For the first time, the party has announced a heavyweight poll campaign committee team. Also for the first time, members of this committee will answer to Modi rather than the BJP national president. The Gujarat chief minister’s main rival LK Advani and party president Rajnath Singh will merely play the role of mentors and will have no direct say in proceedings – atleast for now. Party general secretary Ananth Kumar said as much.
“The Narendra Modi-led election committee will have senior leaders Atal Behari Vajpayee, LK Advani and Rajnath Singh in the role of mentors,’’ he announced, making it clear that while Rajnath Singh would be the titular head of the party, it is Modi who will actually call the shots.
This is BJP’s most serious attempt thus far to oust the Congress-led UPA regime. Included in the central election committee are three former BJP presidents, Murli Manohar Joshi, Venkiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari, BJP leaders of opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley respectively and three serving chief ministers MP’s Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Chhattisgarh’s Raman Singh and Goa’s Manohar Parikkar. Also included are top ranked leaders linked to the party organization like veterans Ram Lal, Ananth Kumar and Thavar Chand Gehlot.
Apart from the central election committee, the party has set up 20 sub-committees which will include 87 top leaders of the party. These panels will look at publicity, political rallies, intellectual cell, information, booth management, special campaign units and other election-related matter. In this way, almost all top leaders have been included in some or the other capacity to give the appearance of an all out BJP attack, a phalanx of leaders to take on the Congress.
Inside the party – and despite the hype – it has not been too easy for Modi. Senior leaders in the party are said to have raised objections about reporting to a ‘junior’. As if to quell any potential disturbance, Ananth Kumar made it clear that “Leaders of the poll campaign committee will directly answer to Modi.’’ In addition, senior leaders who could have objected to Modi, like Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Prem Kumar Dhumal and Jaswant Singh, have all been accommodated in the manifesto drafting committee to nip any trouble in the bud.
Party leaders say that the chairman of the central poll committee in the past has never had such sweeping powers as have been laid down at the doorstep of Modi. In 2004 and 2009 general elections, both Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jaitley had similar designations but had no more than advisory powers. Only in the case of disagreements will the party president intervene and there too, Modi’s ‘advice’ will be considered binding.
Insiders say that by putting into place these sub-committees, Modi has cleverly managed to place leaders opposed to each other in important positions. Two leaders close to him, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah have crucial positions. While Jaitley figures in the campaign committee, so does Sushma Swaraj. In case of a disagreement between the two, Amit Shah will do Modi’s bidding. Similarly, while Nitin Gadkari has been made in charge of the Delhi assembly elections, he will be accompanied by cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu in the same panel, thereby reducing chances of sabotage. Sidhu is close to Jaitley.
Likewise, archrivals Ananth Kumar and Varun Gandhi have been made in charge of political rallies. Murli Dhar Rao, a product of the Swadeshi Andolan and Vinay Katiyar who learnt his political lessons in the Ramjanma Bhoomi agitation, have been put in charge of the depressed castes committee whose job it is to mobilize opinion among the lowest of the low: handloom workers, fishermen committees and the like. The point is how will they work together?
Some leaders allege that old and tired faces have been selected again instead of new leaders from states. Says one UP leader, “This was not expected of Modi. He has picked on the same guys sitting in Delhi’s airconditioned rooms instead of those connected to the people.’’
Film actor and MP Shatrughan Sinha told reporters on Tuesday that no one can become the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate without the blessings of L K Advani. He cautioned Narendra Modi saying “There is many a slip between the cup and the lip”. Sinha added: “Senior leaders like L K Advani, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, M M Joshi and Sushma Swaraj have been ignored. But Modi should remember that nothing is final till BJP parliamentary board takes a call on the NDA’s PM choice. Dilli abhi door hai.”
According to leaders, Rajnath Singh is playing a double game. By giving all powers to Modi, he is absolving himself of any responsibility. Should things not go according to plan in 2014, Modi will take the rap and if all goes well, Singh can always claim to have made the right move by allotting all powers to the Gujarat strongman. People who know Modi say that he had the option of becoming party president but chose to head the campaign committee instead. He also wants Rajnath on his side to neutralize opponents within the party, should such a need arise and seeks to head the party for the 2019 elections, should things not go according to the drawing board. Clearly, it is heads I win, tails you lose.
