BJP leaders speak in different voices

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, DEC. 1. The Delhi unit of the BJP and some of its senior leaders, including Members of Parliament, continue to speak in different voices on the closure of industries in the non-conforming areas and on the stand of the Urban Union Development Minister, Mr. Jagmohan, indicating deep divisions within the party.

The fight is also being seen in political circles as a game of one upmanship with each leader trying to outdo the other by suggesting various strategies. What is another poor-reflection on the functioning of the party is that they have failed to take up their case with the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, in an effective manner. The various MPs have been meeting the Prime Minister separately and have till now avoided going with each other on a common platform.

Some of the senior leaders including the South Delhi MP, Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, and Outer Delhi MP, Mr. Sahib Singh Varma, are upset over the way the former Chief Minister, Mr. Madan Lal Khurana, has tried to hijack the whole issue and show others in poor light. The BJP vice-president has also chartered his own course and met the Prime Minister individually without taking other MPs or party leaders into confidence.

And to top it all, Mr. Khurana had gone public claiming that the Prime Minister had promised certain things with regard to closure of industry. But these announcements never came through reflecting poorly on Mr. Khurana. The open criticism of Mr. Jagmohan by Mr. Khurana is seen as a desperate attempt by the former Chief Minister to once again rehabilitate himself in the city politics and take credit for all positive things. ``The problem with Mr. Khurana is that he functions outside the parametres of the party and violates the spirit of collective leadership. He wants all the credit for himself and this is not a good thing. The party has to present a united picture on such occasions and cannot afford to speak in different voices,'' a senior leader remarked.

Now for the local party unit leadership. It is no secret that the Delhi party chief, Mr. Mange Ram Garg, does not see eye to eye with either Mr. Khurana or Prof. Malhotra. The senior leaders of the party have charged the local leadership with failure to effectively highlight the issue of closure of industries and put the Delhi Government on the mat. There is virtually no coordination between the senior party leaders including MPs and the state unit.

So much so that the massive dharna organised by Mr. Garg outside the Vidhan Sabha last week to protest against the closure of industries brought out in the open the sharp differences within the party. Not a single MP or senior leader was present during the dharna which turned out to be a damp squib as the party failed to garner a decent crowd. In fact, an impression is fast gaining ground that the BJP leaders were waging a struggle for amendment in the Master Plan of Delhi to save the industrialists and small scale entrepreneurs who were their main source of party funds. ``The BJP is seen to be fighting not for the rights of the industrial workers but for the money bags who have their own vested interests in staying in Delhi,'' a social activist remarked.

But what has annoyed all the senior leaders in the party is the stand taken by Mr. Jagmohan, who has refused to amend the Master Plan. But here also, the local unit and some MPs are siding with Mr. Jagmohan while people like Mr. Khurana and Prof. Malhotra are seen on the other side.

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