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Why BJP shouldn't take Shanta Kumar's outburst as a tantrum

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Kumar Shakti Shekhar
Kumar Shakti ShekharJul 21, 2015 | 20:24

Why BJP shouldn't take Shanta Kumar's outburst as a tantrum

Sidelined in the Narendra Modi's government at the Centre, BJP's Lok Sabha MP from Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, Shanta Kumar, has become the first senior leader to rebel against the party leadership. In a letter written to party president Amit Shah on July 10, Kumar pointed to the Vyapam scam and, without naming Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, the controversy surrounding her alleged association with former IPL chief Lalit Modi. He also made reference to the "chikki" scam involving Maharashtra rural development minister Pankaja Munde. Curiously enough, he left out Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who too is under fire for her alleged links with Lalit Modi.

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Kumar wrote, "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."

His outburst is sure to cause immense worry in the BJP as he is known to be a disciplined member of the BJP. A former chief minister of Himachal Pradesh and former Union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, he is usually reticent and also maintains a low profile. These are the five reasons why his letter bomb sends a warning signal to the ruling dispensation:

1. Kumar's is the first open, direct and frontal attack by a leader of his stature on the BJP's government at the centre and in the states. Earlier, either the attacks were indirect or whosoever had launched an offensive was not holding any position in the party. Though senior leader LK Advani is a Lok Sabha MP from Gandhinagar in Gujarat and a member of the party's non-coveted 'Margdarshak Mandal', which has not met even once ever since it was constituted about a year ago, his reference to the "forces that can crush democracy are stronger…I don't have the confidence it (Emergency) cannot happen again" was indirect.

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Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha's jibe at Prime Minister Modi, the party declares veteran leaders above the age of 75 as brain dead, was also oblique. Moreover, Sinha currently does not hold any party post. Former Union minister Arun Shourie did attack the leadership directly by saying that the "trimurti" (trinity) of Modi, Shah and finance minister Arun Jaitley was running the party and it has offended the opposition as well as frightened the members of the BJP, but he too, like Sinha, does not hold any party post.

The extent of Kumar's disillusionment with the party leadership can be gauged by the fact that he not only released copies of letter to the media but also posted them on his Facebook and Twitter accounts. He could have leaked it if he wanted to escape criticism from the party leadership. But he has waged an open war against the "trimurti".

2. Besides the letter, its timing is also very crucial. Though the letter is dated July 10, 2015, Kumar posted it on his Facebook and Twitter accounts on July 20 - on the eve of the commencement of Parliament's monsoon session. It was released when the BJP is facing heat over the Vyapam scam and Lalit Modi controversy and the opposition is demanding the heads of Swaraj, Raje and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to roll in return for allowing Parliament to function. Thus, the letter will give a handle to the opposition to further push the Modi government to the corner and embarrass it.

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The BJP will also face a major embarrassment because on the one hand it is attacking Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, who has been booked by the CBI along with members of his family for allegedly amassing wealth worth Rs 6.1 crore and on the other Kumar, belonging to the same state, has targeted the party. This will weaken the moral high ground that the BJP is trying to take in the hill state.

 3. Kumar's letter demands the party leadership to constitute an ethics committee which would act like an internal lokpal to root out corruption. He has clearly taken a leaf out of BJP's bitter rival, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is the only political party to have an internal lokpal. Without naming him, he certainly gives a credit to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who decimated the BJP in this year's assembly elections. Simultaneously, it will cause a major embarrassment and heart-burn among the BJP leadership and workers.

4. As he has come out directly against the top leadership, Kumar may prove to be a rallying point for all the disgruntled elements in the party in his home state of Himachal Pradesh and outside. There are several leaders and workers who have been sidelined because they owe their allegiance to the Advani camp or are against Modi and Shah. They are likely to throw their weight around him and strike at an opportune moment.

5. Kumar's rebellion will help strengthen the perception being created by the opposition, particularly the Congress, that the BJP government at the centre is corrupt. Even though the charges against Swaraj, Raje, Chouhan or Pankaja Munde have not been proved, they have certainly stuck to the BJP. It is just like the scams like the 2G spectrum and coal block allocation during the UPA regime which stuck to the Congress and created a perception in the minds of the people even though no one has been convicted in them. This led to the Congress's miserable show in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Kumar's stand poses a threat of taking a toll on the forthcoming assembly elections in Bihar.

Last updated: July 21, 2015 | 20:41
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