Indore: Days after its party mouthpiece launched a veiled attack on leaders including Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and B S Yeddyurappa, the BJP on Tuesday put up a brave face, claiming "there is no dissension in the party".
"There is no squabbling among party leaders" the party spokesperson Prakash Javdekar told reporters here in reference to the attack made on several saffron leaders in the party magazines,Kamal Sandesh, Panchjanya and Organiser.
"they are like any series of newspapers in the country... Every magazine editor got his idea and concept to write freely as newspapers are doing. It is the media which is making their own interpretation from party`s magazine(s) ....Ghar ke andar koi ladayee nahin hai (No internal strife in BJP)," Javdekar said. He was reacting to the editorial in Kamal Sandesh which appealed the party leaders to rise above the petty issues of "self" and "other" besides that of "self existence" and come together for the existence of the party. On the posters of party leader Sanjay Joshi coming up in Ahmedabad, Javdekar said, "I do not see such posters...Where are they?".
Though the posters did not name Modi directly, it is apparent that the snub is aimed at the chief minister who had his way in elbowing out Joshi from the BJP national executive held in Mumbai last month.
On BJP president Nitin Gadkari touching feet of Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, Javadekar said," Gadkari has touched the feet of a sant (Baba Ramdeo) not of any "rakshasa" (demon)... We are not followers of Baba Ramdev or Anna Hazare. Corruption and black money were the issues that BJP had raised years ago".
Targetting the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government at Centre over its failure to rein in inflation and corruption, the party spokesperson said the dual factors herald a "bad omen" for Congress ahead of the 2014 general elections. "Inflation coupled with corruption is diabolic to economy. It signals that change in regime is apparent as it had happened in 1975 during Emergency and during economic crises of 1977, 1987 and 1999",Javedkar said.
He said, "inflation and corruption would play a major role in 2014 general elections," .
"The Manmohan Singh government is suffering from policy paralysis..I wonder if we should give credit of unleashing economic reforms to Manmohan Singh," Javdekar said.
When asked if the NDA would field its candidate in Presidential polls or support the UPA nominee, he refused to comment, saying let the Congress first announce their nominee.
Javdekar also appealed the UPA government at Centre to distribute free wheat to poor people in the country to check "spiralling prices".
At least 200 lakh tones of wheat is already lying as buffer stock, while 600 lakh tones is the Rabi production, surpassing the godown capacity of 400 lakh tonne, the senior leader said, adding the excessive produce will perish due to climatic conditions.
"If UPA government wants to arrest inflation, it should distribute a bag of wheat to poor for free," Javdekar said.
During former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee`s tenure, wheat was sold in market but in UPA there is a high degree of mismanagement as the foodgrain is rotting in absence of sufficient warehouses to store it, he said.
On Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee`s appeal to states to reduce tax to offer some relief to common people from rising petrol prices, Javdekar said,"This is illogical...Centre increases petrol prices and states have to lower them. The Centre receives about Rs 1.5 lakh crore in excise tax from petrol alone..Let the Centre reduce the tax first".
PTI