There is a big game going on in BJP to politically dispose of the old leaders.

The winds of big change are now blowing in the BJP which once talked about behaviour, character and face. These days a new BJP is being formed under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. All the old leaders of the party are being sidelined one by one. Big leaders of BJP in the states have been kept away from active politics and made to sit at home. Those few old leaders who are still active will also be thrown out of politics till the next Lok Sabha elections.

In 2014, when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of the country for the first time. At that time, the party was dominated by a large number of elderly leaders. Tuti used to speak in the party of big leaders like Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj. After Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, first of all big leaders like Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi were kept away from active politics. After that, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections also, tickets of a large number of old leaders were canceled and new people were brought forward in their place. Even in the assembly elections of many states, new people were made Chief Ministers, bypassing senior leaders who had been there for years. Now it seems that BJP will completely change after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. There will be a majority of people in the party leadership who consider Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their leader.

Organization used to be very important in BJP. Only people associated with the organization got the opportunity to move forward in politics. But now the situation has become completely opposite. Today the importance of organization in the party has become less than before. Now BJP has only one aim left to field the winning candidate. Those coming from other parties are getting importance in the party. Due to this, the core workers of the party have started feeling neglected.

In Assam, Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh located in the north-east of the country, the party has appointed leaders from other parties on the posts of Chief Minister. However, in the changing times of politics, this is the situation of all the parties. But such a game is going on a lot in BJP. Sunil Kumar Jakhar, who joined BJP from Congress in Punjab, has been immediately made the state president. Whereas in Jharkhand, Babulal Marandi has been made the leader of the legislature party. Although Babulal Marandi was originally associated with BJP. But for the last many years he used to do anti-BJP politics. Same is the situation in West Bengal. Subhendu Adhikari, who did politics first in Congress and then in Trinamool Congress, is the main face of the party and the leader of the legislature party there.

In Karnataka, BJP had made Basavaraj Bommai, who had done politics of Congress and Janata Dal-S, the Chief Minister. Whose rule had broken all previous records of corruption there. In Karnataka, BJP had canceled tickets of many senior leaders including former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar. Angered by this, many leaders rebelled against the party and contested the elections. As a result, BJP not only had to lose its government there but the party was also reduced to 66 seats in the assembly. Earlier, BJP government was running in Karnataka under the leadership of BS Yediyurappa. But by removing him and making Basavaraj Bommai, who came from another party, the Chief Minister, BJP had to pay the price by losing power. Today BJP has reached the margins in Karnataka.

Similarly, in Maharashtra, the BJP will have to bear the brunt of the tactics adopted to remove Shiv Sena from power in the upcoming elections. In Maharashtra, BJP formed the government by breaking Shiv Sena, but there it has given a big blow to its own former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis by making Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde the Chief Minister. The party has reduced the stature of Fadnavis, who was dreaming of becoming the Chief Minister again, by making him Deputy Chief Minister. The remaining gap has been filled by including Ajit Pawar in the alliance. BJP MLAs who were dreaming of becoming ministers. Now their dream will never be fulfilled due to the formation of alliance. In the next Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, BJP will become very weak in Maharashtra like Karnataka.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Vishwa Sharma, who joined BJP from Congress, is becoming very fond of BJP leaders for his aggressive style. But the way he is Congressizing BJP. Due to this, there is deep resentment among the old leaders of Assam BJP. Senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Rajen Gohain has resigned from the post of Chairman of Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation in protest against the delimitation of Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency. Which he has represented four times. The tussle between the old leaders of Assam BJP and the leaders who recently joined from other political parties has intensified.

Former Union Minister Rajen Gohain, former Assam BJP president and MLA Siddharth Bhattacharya, former MLA Ashok Sarma and Morigaon MLA Ramakant Deori have threatened to leave the BJP. Assam BJP is facing a serious crisis due to differences between new and old party workers in the state. For a long time, old BJP workers and party loyalists have been alleging that new workers and those who have left other parties and joined BJP. They are trying to capture the party and are not giving due respect to the old workers.

Former Chief Minister Uma Bharti in Madhya Pradesh, former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, former Chief Ministers Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Kailash Meghwal, Devisingh Bhati in Rajasthan, former Chief Minister of Tripura Viplav Kumar Dev, former Union Minister and MP Maneka Gandhi, Pankaja Munde in Maharashtra, Haryana Many influential leaders like former Union Minister Chaudhary Virendra Singh in Delhi and former Union Minister Vijay Goel in Delhi are angry with their continuous neglect in the party. In Madhya Pradesh, Uma Bharti has openly announced that she will remain fully active in politics and will also contest the next elections. Uma Bharti even said that no one has the courage to stop her from contesting the next election.

Vasundhara Raje also seems unhappy with her expectations in the Rajasthan Assembly elections. His staunch supporter Kailash Meghwal has been suspended by the party. His supporting MLAs are also facing the possibility of their tickets being cut. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had recently given a statement expressing her displeasure over being ignored. Maneka Gandhi’s MP son Varun Gandhi often makes statements going beyond the party line. The speed with which senior leaders in BJP are being sidelined. It seems that in the coming times all senior leaders will be kept away from active politics.

-Ramesh Saraf Dhamora

(The author is an independent journalist recognized by the Government of Rajasthan. His articles are published in many newspapers of the country.)