Mumbai: A day after posters hailing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi`s bete noire Sanjay Joshi cropped up in Ahmedabad and Delhi, BJP on Wednesday downplayed the development, saying there is no "turf war" within the saffron party.
"The only war BJP fighting in Gujarat is for development and protecting glory of the state. There is no other war. Everyone in Gujarat wants the BJP and Narendra Modi to win the ensuing assembly elections. We don`t want to divert our attention to anything else," BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told at a press conference.
"The chapter is closed and whatever the party had to say has been stated yesterday," he said when asked about the controversy surrounding the posters apparently targetting Modi.
On BJP candidate Jagdev Yadav failing to file his nomination papers for Kannauj Lok Sabha bypoll in Uttar Pradesh, Naqvi said the party has sought intervention of the Election Commission.
"We have registered a complaint with the Election Commission asking it to intervene in the matter," he said.
In a u-turn, BJP which had decided against contesting the byelection, decided to field Yadav, who, however, could not file the nomination papers as the deadline for the same ended on Wednesday.
Alleging that Yadav was "prevented" from filing the nomination papers, Naqvi said the incident was an indicator of deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh.
"This is not what people wanted when they voted massively for a change in government few months ago," he said without naming the ruling Samajwadi Party.
When asked about former Army chief General (retd) V K Singh`s comments that civilian supremacy over military should be resisted if unjust and unfair, Naqvi said such statements should not be made whether from within the army or from outside.
He, however, sought to put the onus on the Congress-led UPA at Centre for "arrogance, mishandling and insensitivity" towards handling the controversies that cropped up during the tenure of the former Army chief.
"Matters which should have been resolved (behind) closed doors were allowed to be brought into public domain," Naqvi said.
To a question on BJP`s stand on Punjab`s ruling party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) backing the demand for constructing a memorial for those killed in Operation Bluestar, Naqvi said the BJP was against glorifying individuals and organisations involved in terrorist activities.
BJP is an alliance partner in the SAD-led development in Punjab.
PTI
