Patna,(BiharTimes): The growing number of BJP MPs turning their guns on their own leadership is causing concern in the state unit of the party, which is gearing up for the Assembly election. At least three of the prominent members of Lok Sabha, out of total 22, have on one count or the other criticised the leadership in the recent weeks.
First it was Darbhanga MP Kirti Azad, who came down heavily on Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Lalitgate scandal. He even went on to call some party insiders as ‘Aastin ke sanp’.
Then came a series of what is being alleged as anti-party statements and actions by Patna Saheb MP Shatrughan Sinha. There is now speculation that his wife, Poonam Sinha, may even get Janata Dal (United) ticket from anywhere in Patna.
When the party was yet to overcome this crisis came another blow from former Union home secretary and Ara MP, Raj Kumar Singh, the man who as the district magistrate of Samastipur, got Lal Krishna Advani arrested way back on October 23, 1990.
A few days back he had strongly criticized External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for helping ‘’absconder” like Lalit Modi get travel documents in Britain and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje for having link with former IPL chief. He even gave an interview to a television channel in this regard.
“It is wrong on the part of others to help him,” Singh was quoted as saying.
That was not enough: in the Lok Sabha, he wondered why the Centre was not taking ‘’strong” action against those who waved Pakistani flag in the Kashmir Valley.
"If the state government is not taking strong action, why is the central government not taking any action? No action strengthens the morale of anti-national forces," he said during Zero Hour in Parliament on Wednesday.
He did not stop there but further added: waving of Pakistani flags had stopped in the past after the government of the day cracked down on those involved. “You must have seen that such things did not happen in the past since once or twice when such incidents were reported, the government took strong action. Why is strong action not being taken now, I don’t know.” The ruling BJP MPs in the House were taken aback by his tone and tenor.
Mind it when he was the home secretary of India the term “saffron terror” got currency.
When he was in Bihar he was considered close to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar too. That is why many party rank and file back here are looking at him suspiciously.
Now the state unit of the saffron party is relying more on leaders of alliance partners––LJP and RLSP––and also on Pappu Yadav and Jitan Ram Manjhi, rather than several of their own MPs. In fact new comers like Ram Kripal Yadav are batting more strongly for the party than many old parliamentarians, say for example Hukum Deo Narayan Yadav.