JOIN USKhanduri opens a new front in BJP
Meanwhile, adding further discomfiture to the party, expelled leader Jaswant Singh on Wednesday likened the party to the violent white American racist group Ku Klux Klan and hinted that senior leader L K Advani was surrounded by a coterie. Sources said more blood letting is expected in the coming day as “none is in firm control of the party.”
An apparently emboldened Khanduri said it was not good to take action without making a proper analysis of the developments. “It is not done,” he said.
Shourie in his no-holds-barred attack against the leadership had condemned the ouster of Khanduri and demanded the resignation of Vasundhara Raje, the leader of Opposition in Rajasthan assembly, for the poll debacle.
Sources did not confirm whether Raje would submit resignation after the assembly session as demanded by party president Rajnath Singh.
‘Unfortunate’
“Whatever is happening in BJP is unfortunate,” said Khanduri, who was made to quit as chief minister after his party lost all the five Lok Sabha seats in the state.
In a letter to the BJP chief, Khanduri is understood to have said that the party should have gone into the reasons behind its defeat before removing him as chief minister.
He also said the party should have reviewed its electoral performance with a cool mindset and whatever action it had to take, it should have taken after proper analysis. Khanduri said the atmosphere of hopelessness after the party’s poor performance in Lok Sabha polls was uncalled for. “It is not that the party has been ruined. It has secured 116 seats in the Lok Sabha this time. The position of Congress in 1996 was worse,” he said. Asked why he was not invited for the chintan bhaithak in Shimla, Khanduri said: “It is not an issue. The issue is that before taking any action views of all concerned should be elicited.”
Raje defiant
Meanwhile, Vasundhara Raje, who has been asked to quit as Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly, on Wednesday put up a show of strength when 70 of the BJP MLAs attended a Legislature Party meeting convened by her in Jaipur. She told reporters that she has not submitted her resignation. Deputy Leader Ganshyam Tiwari said the issue did not come up during the meeting. Two MLAs supporting her, Rajendra Singh Rathore and Gyandeo Ahuja, who were suspended for anti-party activities, also attended the meet.
So far, Raje has not spoken against the party’s top brass. “There is nothing to say except... I cannot understand all this because I respect my people in the party...the senior leaders of the party....I was always meant to come here after the Chintan Baithak (in Shimla) and so I am here," she said.