JOIN USThis is a question that has been nagging the minds of senior BJP leaders ever since the surprising statement came out.
Swaraj has caused severe embarrassment in the top echelons of the BJP—and glee in the Congress—by alluding to Jaitley vis-a-vis the growth of mining barons in Karnataka.
Obviously, the remarks could have implications more at the national level than in Karnataka.
The veteran BJP leader told “Outlook” magazine in an interview that when Reddy brothers were made ministers, “Jaitley was the party general secretary in charge of Karnataka, B S Yeddyurappa was the chief minister and Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar were there as senior leaders.”
This clearly implied that these leaders had more to do with Reddys being made ministers than she herself had.
The BJP leaders, who were surprised by Swaraj’s silence over the UPA government for the last about two months, is once again bemused to see her taking on her party colleagues Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar, in addition to Jaitley now.
“It is difficult to fathom why she did it. The timing is surprising. There was no issue at the party level. At this point of time, the attack on Jaitley looks needless. Also, she made these remarks when Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa is seemingly placed comfortably. The statement could not have been made foreseeing the prospects of she becoming a front-runner for the prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which is still far away. More over, the BJP itself is not interested in projecting anyone as PM candidate,” senior BJP leaders told Deccan Herald.
Still, these remarks did not seem to wipe out the impression among the BJP top brass that Swaraj—whom the Reddys describe as their godmother—is their protector in Delhi.
Interestingly, Swaraj, who was responsible for taking the then chief vigilance commissioner P J Thomas issue to the centrestage, surprised even the Congress when she said the issue was a closed chapter after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh admitted to his mistake in his appointment over two months ago.
However, BJP president Nitin Gadkari had to intervene, following the party murmur, and reopen the issue.
Clearly beaming at the BJP embarrassment, the Congress rushed to rub it on the main Opposition party wound as spokesperson Manish Tiwari said “Neros of the BJP” fiddle in Delhi while Karnataka burns.
“Swaraj’s assertions once again underscore the fundamental reality of the BJP that money talks and Yeddyurappa and Reddy walk. While Karnataka burns with corruption, the Neros of BJP fiddle in Delhi. It does not require any imagination to find out from where the fiddle came. It definitely came from Bangalore,” Tewari said.