The BJP central leadership has been combating rising cases of dissent in party-ruled states, betraying signs of loosening of the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duopoly’s iron grip over the machinery.
Over the past couple of weeks, party managers have been rushed to Uttar Pradesh in the north, Karnataka and Goa in the south, Gujarat in the west and Tripura in the east to douse growing voices of unrest in BJP units, seeking to defy the top leadership.
The struggle to put its house in order in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh continues despite a visit by a central BJP team to Lucknow and chief minister Yogi Adityanath dashing to Delhi to hold talks with Prime Minister Modi and home minister Shah.
Amit Shah PTI
General secretary in charge of organisation B.L. Santosh and party’s Uttar Pradesh minder Radha Mohan Singh were in Lucknow on Monday, their second visit in a month, to quell unrest against Adityanath’s leadership style and make the BJP poll-ready.
The problem in Uttar Pradesh poses a direct threat to the authority of the top duo with Adityanath’s rise as a popular Hindutva icon, seeking to establish a Modi-like control over the most populous state.
Many in the party believe Adityanath could emerge as a strong contender to succeed Modi in Delhi if he can retain Uttar Pradesh comfortably in the Assembly polls next year.
Yogi Adityanath. PTI
The challenge before the party is to use the voices of dissent in Lucknow to rein in Adityanath, sources said.
While Uttar Pradesh continues to simmer, party managers have been grappling with rebellion in Karnataka. Dissidents seeking to unseat 78-year-old chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa look determined.
Karnataka’s BJP minder Arun Singh was rushed to Bangalore last week to fire-fight. The party for now has managed to buy an uneasy peace by threatening disciplinary action against the dissidents.
Karnataka is the only state in the south where the BJP has managed to wrest power and the bickering, many leaders fear, could spoil the future.
Despite not being happy with Yediyurappa, who again doesn’t seem to care much about the central leadership’s authority, party’s Delhi managers are wary that edging him out could anger the numerically strong Lingayat voters, the main support base of the BJP.
Differences between young Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant and some of his ministers also surfaced and Santosh was rushed to the state. Though a tiny state, Goa holds significance for the BJP, scheduled to go to polls with Uttar Pradesh in February-March next year.
The condition in Modi-Shah’s home state Gujarat is also threatening to go out of control. The internal tussle between chief minister Vijay Rupani and state BJP president C.R. Patil, seen as a favourite of Modi, spilled out in the open during the Covid crisis and continues to grow, sources said.
Deputy chief minister Nitin Patel too is apparently sulking and eyeing the hot seat before the Assembly polls scheduled for 2022.
BJP’s state in-charge Bhupendra Yadav was rushed to calm the situation. Sources, however, said the problem remains unresolved amid speculation of a leadership change still rife.
While the defeat in the recent Bengal polls has led to an all-out battle in the BJP’s state unit, internal bickering in Tripura, targeting chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb, has surfaced again.
While the party’s Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya faces attack from BJP leaders post the poll defeat, reports of him eyeing the chief minister’s chair in his home state Madhya Pradesh have also surfaced.
The party has had to rule out any leadership change in the state, to end speculation.
