Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah has been put on notice, it appears. At a meeting held at Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s residence on March 23, top functionaries of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pulled up Shah for his “autocratic functioning” and cautioned him that he could not take his reappointment as party chief – which is due in nine months – for granted.
At the meeting, RSS sarkaryavah (general secretary) Bhaiyyaji Joshi told the BJP president that he “must now start working” to suggest the name of a suitable successor, according to highly-placed sources. Although no further discussion took place on Joshi’s statement, the sources said, it did reveal for the first time the RSS’s thoughts on a possible second term for Shah, no doubt putting the BJP president on tenterhooks.
The development is also being interpreted in RSS circles as Nagpur’s attempt to placate the large number of party leaders and cadres who are feeling left out under the new dispensation.
The March 23 meeting was convened to ensure better coordination among the government, BJP and the RSS. From the RSS came Joshi and Sah Sarkaryavahs (joint general secretaries) Krishna Gopal and Suresh Soni. The BJP was represented by Amit Shah and general secretaries Ram Lal and Ram Madhav, while the government was represented by Union ministers Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.
Crucial Bihar elections
No sooner was he reprimanded for being disconnected from party leaders and cadres than Shah began taking steps to correct this image. Within 24 hours after the meeting, he went along with two RSS functionaries to meet marginalised veteran leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who are members of the party’s Margdarshak Mandal, a guidance council that has never met since its formation. Shah also announced that on the first and third Mondays of every month, he will sit in his office at the BJP headquarters from 11am to 5pm and will be open to meet any party worker without an appointment.
Whether these steps will help him fix his image and regain his strength remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that Amit Shah is no longer the old self, confident of himself as well as of the source of his strength – Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sources in both the RSS and the BJP insist that Shah’s fate could be revived only if he manages to clinch a victory in Bihar, where Assembly elections are due in November this year – two months before his term ends in January 2016.
From the Sangh Parivar’s point of view, there is nothing unusual in Bhaiyyaji Joshi’s statement. Every time the BJP president is to be appointed, the RSS gathers suggestions from most of the senior party leaders, including the party’s incumbent head. Based on these references as well as its own understanding, the RSS advises a name to the BJP, which is then made public by the party as its unanimous choice. The RSS follows this process even when the incumbent is given another term.
Though the BJP president is elected for three years, Amit Shah’s appointment as party chief was a mid-term arrangement necessitated by the induction of then president Rajnath Singh into the union cabinet in May 2014. Appointed party president in January 2013, Singh had completed half of the term by the time he handed over the baton to Amit Shah. The next selection will, therefore, come up for consideration in January 2016.
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At the meeting, RSS sarkaryavah (general secretary) Bhaiyyaji Joshi told the BJP president that he “must now start working” to suggest the name of a suitable successor, according to highly-placed sources. Although no further discussion took place on Joshi’s statement, the sources said, it did reveal for the first time the RSS’s thoughts on a possible second term for Shah, no doubt putting the BJP president on tenterhooks.
The development is also being interpreted in RSS circles as Nagpur’s attempt to placate the large number of party leaders and cadres who are feeling left out under the new dispensation.
The March 23 meeting was convened to ensure better coordination among the government, BJP and the RSS. From the RSS came Joshi and Sah Sarkaryavahs (joint general secretaries) Krishna Gopal and Suresh Soni. The BJP was represented by Amit Shah and general secretaries Ram Lal and Ram Madhav, while the government was represented by Union ministers Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.
Crucial Bihar elections
No sooner was he reprimanded for being disconnected from party leaders and cadres than Shah began taking steps to correct this image. Within 24 hours after the meeting, he went along with two RSS functionaries to meet marginalised veteran leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who are members of the party’s Margdarshak Mandal, a guidance council that has never met since its formation. Shah also announced that on the first and third Mondays of every month, he will sit in his office at the BJP headquarters from 11am to 5pm and will be open to meet any party worker without an appointment.
Whether these steps will help him fix his image and regain his strength remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that Amit Shah is no longer the old self, confident of himself as well as of the source of his strength – Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sources in both the RSS and the BJP insist that Shah’s fate could be revived only if he manages to clinch a victory in Bihar, where Assembly elections are due in November this year – two months before his term ends in January 2016.
From the Sangh Parivar’s point of view, there is nothing unusual in Bhaiyyaji Joshi’s statement. Every time the BJP president is to be appointed, the RSS gathers suggestions from most of the senior party leaders, including the party’s incumbent head. Based on these references as well as its own understanding, the RSS advises a name to the BJP, which is then made public by the party as its unanimous choice. The RSS follows this process even when the incumbent is given another term.
Though the BJP president is elected for three years, Amit Shah’s appointment as party chief was a mid-term arrangement necessitated by the induction of then president Rajnath Singh into the union cabinet in May 2014. Appointed party president in January 2013, Singh had completed half of the term by the time he handed over the baton to Amit Shah. The next selection will, therefore, come up for consideration in January 2016.