Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Veteran BJP leader LK Advani on Thursday made an indirect attack on party president Nitin Gadkari for taking faulty decisions, which have further dented the right-wing party’s public image.
Expressing concerns over his party’s declining credibility, the BJP stalwart wrote in his popular blog that the saffron leadership has failed to sense the pulse of the public on various occasions and several wrong decisions taken by the apex leadership has further worsened the situation.
“The mood within the party these days is not upbeat. The results in Uttar Pradesh, the manner in which the party welcomed BSP Ministers who were removed by Mayawati ji on charges of corruption, the party’s handling of Jharkhand and Karnataka – all these events have undermined the party’s campaign against corruption,” Advani wrote.
The veteran leader also gave a piece of advice to the BJP leadership to introspect what has gone wrong.
“The fact that we have a sizable contingent of MPs in Parliament today as against the niggardly two seats in 1984, that our performance in the two Houses under Sushmaji and Jaitleyji has been excellent, that the party is in power in as many as nine states today is no compensation for the lapses committed. I had said at the Core Group meeting that if people are today angry with the U.P.A. Government, they are also disappointed with us. The situation, I said, calls for introspection,” he stated.
This is possibly the first time that the veteran leader has openly questioned the decisions taken by the party chief although he has not named him while commenting in his blog.
Gadkari has faced severe criticism for inducting former BSP leader Baburam Kushwaha in the party who was earlier sacked by Mayawati after graft charges were levelled against him in connection with the multi-crore NRHM scam.
Similarly, Gadkari was also criticized by top BJP leaders for fielding Anshuman Mishra as the party candidate in Jharkhand Rajya Sabha polls, who was later charged with horse-trading in connection with the polls.
The BJP high command’s inept handling of the crisis in Karnataka - its southern stronghold – triggered by its tainted but powerful leader BS Yeddyurappa for reinstating him as the state’s Chief Minister made a mockery of the party’s stand on the issue of corruption.
All these decisions have raised serious question marks over Gadkari’s ability to lead the party, which once flourished under the able-guidance of visionary leader like AB Vajpayee.
