National

Yashwant Sinha Steps Down as Bickering Flares up in BJP

The problems do not seem to be on wane for the BJP. Sudheendra Kulkarni’s article, Jaswant Singh’s letter are passé in matter of hours as the senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha resigned from the post of party’s vice-president on Saturday, hinting at rebellion deepening in saffron party.

Sinha, who had held portfolios of external affairs minister and finance minister in the BJP-led NDA government, stepped down from the post merely a couple of minutes before party president Rajnath Singh addressed media on the reported differences among senior leaders.

However, while addressing the media, Rajnath Singh claimed that top leaders of the party had no differences among them and that he was yet to receive Sinha’s resignation letter.

“I am yet to receive the resignation letter. When I get it I will read it,” Rajnath Singh remarked casually while ruling out any action against Sinha.

In an obvious reference to Jaswant Singh’s letter asking party leadership to take responsibility for the Lok Sabha elections debacle, Rajnath Singh said: “It has been rumoured in the media that there is a rift within the BJP. This is untrue. I want to say that the BJP leadership is united.”

“The election results were against party expectations and the media has claimed that the party leadership is in disarray. I want to say the party is united. There is no disunity in the BJP,” Rajnath Singh, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, said.

“I want to implore to the media to not write or publish anything which tarnishes the image of the party,” he said.

“None of the party leaders will in any form – formal or informal – express their opinion about the internal working of the party,” Rajnath said warning leaders against airing views to the media and going against party line, adding, “No public dissent will be allowed by leaders. Indiscipline will not be tolerated in the party.”

He said that despite party’s debacle, it is still second largest party in the Lok Sabha and would not allow the UPA government to follow any anti-people policy.

“The party has accepted the verdict of the people with humility. We are thankful to our supporters who demonstrated their faith and belief in us and in our ideology of building a strong and resurgent India. Millions of voters expect us to be a responsible Opposition party so that the ruling coalition does not take any decisions against the interest of the common man,” he said.

“The leadership is united and is currently analysing why the party could not gain the mandate it had expected,” said Singh.
“This has to be an exhaustive exercise and it has already begun at various levels. The entire process will be completed in a chintan-baithak (brainstorming session) after the Budget session,” he added.

“We have decided that henceforth all party leaders or functionaries will refrain from expressing any views outside party forums without internal deliberations first. They will not share any information without the consent of the party, failing which they will invite disciplinary action against themselves,” he stated.

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