When LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee were dropped from the Bharatiya Janata Party's highest decision-making body on Tuesday and shunted into a newly formed mentors' group, the discussion in party circles didn't focus on the fate of these veteran leaders. Instead, party workers were trying to understand why Home Minister Rajnath Singh had also been made part of this club.
To be fair, it isn't as if Singh was not included in the BJP's Parliamentary Board. But the question nonetheless refused to die down: "Will Singh be Modi's next target?"
Almost as if to confirm that he was succumbing to the pressure, Rajnath Singh declared on Wednesday that he would quit politics if it was proved that he sought a party ticket from Noida for his son for the upcoming by-elections in Uttar Pradesh or that the latter took bribe for arranging the posting of a police official.
“I will quit public life and politics the day any allegation on me or my family member is proven true,” Singh said.
Uncharacteristic outburst
The uncharacteristic outburst followed reports that Singh had lodged a complaint with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh alleging that a ministerial colleague was spreading rumours about his son. He said that this minister claimed that Modi scolded his son, Pankaj Singh, for taking bribes for arranging police postings.
Other party officials alleged that Singh was lobbying for a ticket for his son in the forthcoming UP by-elections.
On Tuesday, when BJP president Amit Shah, revamped the party’s Parliamentary Board, the party also issued a list of contestants for the September 13 by-polls in Uttar Pradesh. Instead of Pankaj Singh, who was seen as the front-runner for the Noida seat, the party showed faith in 62-year-old Vimla Batham, a local industrialist.
The omission of Pankaj Singh surprised many party leaders, who saw it as yet another example of Rajnath Singh's declining clout.
Singh's public outburst forced the Prime Minister’s Office to issue a statement refuting media reports about Pankaj Singh's alleged misconduct, calling them “plain lies, motivated and malicious attempt” to tarnish the image of the government. Yet the PMO remained silent on the Home Minister’s reported allegation that one of his ministerial colleagues was responsible for spreading the rumour.
“The PMO’s silence on this count would only embolden the concerned minister further," said a senior BJP leader familiar with this affair. "This is not a good sign for Rajnath Singh."
In dire straits
Another senior BJP leader who also requested anonymity agreed with this assessment. “Once Modi has made up his mind decisively, there is little or nothing a party leader can do to save himself,” he said.
Rajnath Singh's "unusual outburst today...has little to do with the allegations being levelled against him and his son, and more to his sudden realisation that his time is up”.
With his statement on Wednesday, Sigh has broken the vow of silence that all BJP ministers seem to have taken. He is unlikely to have anticipated running into rough weather so early. In fact, as party president, he had stood with Modi when Advani and his aides opposed the Gujarat chief minister's prime ministerial candidacy.
Why, therefore, should he be Modi's next target? “There is no room for either friendship or gratitude at the top,” said the BJP leader. “Don’t forget Rajnath Singh is a Thakur, and out of 280 BJP members in Lok Sabha, more than one-third belongs to this caste. Doesn’t it make him look like a potential threat?”
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To be fair, it isn't as if Singh was not included in the BJP's Parliamentary Board. But the question nonetheless refused to die down: "Will Singh be Modi's next target?"
Almost as if to confirm that he was succumbing to the pressure, Rajnath Singh declared on Wednesday that he would quit politics if it was proved that he sought a party ticket from Noida for his son for the upcoming by-elections in Uttar Pradesh or that the latter took bribe for arranging the posting of a police official.
“I will quit public life and politics the day any allegation on me or my family member is proven true,” Singh said.
Uncharacteristic outburst
The uncharacteristic outburst followed reports that Singh had lodged a complaint with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh alleging that a ministerial colleague was spreading rumours about his son. He said that this minister claimed that Modi scolded his son, Pankaj Singh, for taking bribes for arranging police postings.
Other party officials alleged that Singh was lobbying for a ticket for his son in the forthcoming UP by-elections.
On Tuesday, when BJP president Amit Shah, revamped the party’s Parliamentary Board, the party also issued a list of contestants for the September 13 by-polls in Uttar Pradesh. Instead of Pankaj Singh, who was seen as the front-runner for the Noida seat, the party showed faith in 62-year-old Vimla Batham, a local industrialist.
The omission of Pankaj Singh surprised many party leaders, who saw it as yet another example of Rajnath Singh's declining clout.
Singh's public outburst forced the Prime Minister’s Office to issue a statement refuting media reports about Pankaj Singh's alleged misconduct, calling them “plain lies, motivated and malicious attempt” to tarnish the image of the government. Yet the PMO remained silent on the Home Minister’s reported allegation that one of his ministerial colleagues was responsible for spreading the rumour.
“The PMO’s silence on this count would only embolden the concerned minister further," said a senior BJP leader familiar with this affair. "This is not a good sign for Rajnath Singh."
In dire straits
Another senior BJP leader who also requested anonymity agreed with this assessment. “Once Modi has made up his mind decisively, there is little or nothing a party leader can do to save himself,” he said.
Rajnath Singh's "unusual outburst today...has little to do with the allegations being levelled against him and his son, and more to his sudden realisation that his time is up”.
With his statement on Wednesday, Sigh has broken the vow of silence that all BJP ministers seem to have taken. He is unlikely to have anticipated running into rough weather so early. In fact, as party president, he had stood with Modi when Advani and his aides opposed the Gujarat chief minister's prime ministerial candidacy.
Why, therefore, should he be Modi's next target? “There is no room for either friendship or gratitude at the top,” said the BJP leader. “Don’t forget Rajnath Singh is a Thakur, and out of 280 BJP members in Lok Sabha, more than one-third belongs to this caste. Doesn’t it make him look like a potential threat?”