Sad Modi is ignoring BJP veterans like LK Advani and Shanta Kumar
Eighty-year-old Shanta Kumar, the former chief minister of Himachal Pradesh and former Cabinet minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government is presently a BJP member of Parliament from Kangra in the Lok Sabha. He wrote a letter to BJP president Amit Shah on July 10. He criticised the government over the Vyapam scam and Lalit Modi controversy. He said the Vyapam scam "made all of us bow our heads in shame" and dented the image of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Kumar also referred to Rajasthan and Maharashtra, without specifically mentioning the controversies surrounding Vasundhara Raje or Pankaja Munde, and sought the setting up of an ethics committee to act as a “Lokpal” to “keep a check on leaders in the government”.
He further wrote, “We came to power with a lot of pride and formed the government at the Centre. One year of the government was an year of outstanding achievements. (But) while we were celebrating our achievements... came an eclipse”. He then went on to say, “From Rajasthan to Maharashtra, people started pointing fingers at us. Reports about Madhya Pradesh’s Vyapam scam made all of us bow our heads in shame... It is very natural for the people to feel highly disappointed and frustrated. The BJP workers are unable to face it”.
Kumar also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his Gujarat Model of governance and said that it helped in getting the historical mandate. But this praise was restricted to Modi as Gujarat's chief minister and Modi as the prime minister for the first year. His letter starts with praise of Amit Shah for his efforts in expanding the party. But in the same vein he makes subtle criticism by saying, "bada hona to accha hai par accha hona usase bhi accha hai" (It's good to be famous but better to be good).
When the BJP is stoutly defending its ministers and trying aggressively to counter the Opposition's attack on them, Kumar is the first senior BJP leader who has raised his voice against the controversies that have put the Modi government in a tough spot.
But he is not the first senior BJP leader to warn the Modi-Shah duo. Last month, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Emergency, senior BJP leader LK Advani said that it can happen again in India. In an interview to the Indian Express he said, "I do not say that the political leadership is not mature. But I don't have the confidence that it (Emergency) cannot happen again." He said there were no signs in the Indian polity which assured him that the Emergency could not be imposed in India again. When he said, "I do not see any sign in our polity that assures me, any outstanding aspect of leadership. A commitment to democracy and to all other aspects related to democracy is lacking", whom was he targeting? Obviously, the present dispensation. In June, 2013, when he resigned from all party posts in protest of Modi's elevation as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, he wrote in his resignation letter, "Most leaders of ours are now concerned just with their personal agendas." His obvious target then was Modi and so is the prime minister even now. He is not just a founding member of the BJP but a former president of the party, a former deputy prime minister of India and currently a Lok Sabha member.
In May, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, while addressing a seminar on "Integral Humanism: Cultural Nationalism" organised by the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) raised questions on Modi's plans to develop his constituency Varanasi on the lines of Japanese city Kyoto. He said, “I am not against the development of Varanasi on the lines of Tokyo and Kyoto, but there is need for infrastructural development before going ahead on that path." He also questioned Modi's dream project of running bullet trains in the country. He again said that he was not against the idea “but first we need to have the basic transportation facilities”. He too is a Lok Sabha member, a former Cabinet minister in the Vajpayee government and a former party president.
The three top leaders of the BJP raised alarm bells in last three months. Out of the three, two are former party presidents and the third is a former vice president of the party. All three are senior leaders and founding members of the BJP. All three are serious politicians and members of the BJP in the present Lok Sabha. And they are not like Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha and Govindacharya, who too criticised Modi but have no role in present dispensation. The BJP may ignore their warning, assuming they are disgruntled elements, who lost the race for Cabinet berths because of Modi's formula of not having ministers above the age of 75 years. But it can't ignore their experience in politics. Given their experience, they can foresee the future of the party better than the present decision makers. And if it is ignored, it may cost them dearly. So, when Advani talks about democracy, Kumar talks about transparency and an internal Lokpal and Joshi asks them to be realistic and stop day dreaming then they must pay heed.