- There are at least seven NDA MPs, of the 31 from Bihar, who have squarely blamed the Modi-Shah duo for the total rout.
- Some NDA MPs say cow-related advertisements, Amit Shah’s Pakistan jibe and cow/beef meat led to the BJP’s debacle.
- This protest by upper caste MPs carries weight as it comes at a time when many within the BJP feel suffocated but don’t dare to speak out.
- Patna Sahib MP Shatrughan Sinha, the most vocal of them all, warned the party against a negative campaign even on the campaign trail.
Ever since it miserably lost the assembly election in Bihar, discontent within the BJP is increasing with every passing day.
It’s not only the four senior-most ‘margdarshaks’ - LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar - who have challenged the party leadership. There are at least seven NDA MPs, of the 31 from Bihar, who have squarely blamed the Modi-Shah duo for the total rout. Some publicly, some in private.
“Lahlahati fasal par oole aur burf phek diye inn logon ne,” remarked senior BJP MP Bhola Singh, while alluding to how some top party leaders literally poured cold water on its victory plans.
“The PM’s amaryadit bhasa (foul language), Mohan Bhagat’s assertion on aarakshan (reservation) and Amit Shah’s ‘CPM’ factor led us to the poll debacle,” said Bhola, who has served as a six-term legislator and a two-term parliamentarian.
The ‘CPM’ Effect
The BJP MP from Begusarai clarified that by ‘CPM’ he meant cow-related advertisements, Pakistan jibe (crackers in Pak) and maans (meat/beef), the three issues (or non-issues) behind the BJP’s debacle.
The protest by an MP from the Bhumihar community, an upper caste perceived to be a staunch BJP supporter, carries weight as it has come at a time when many within the BJP feel suffocated but don’t dare to speak out against the party leadership.
One such parliamentarian who has shown the guts to call for introspection is Madhubani MP, Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav. Yadav, who served as textile minister in the Vajpayee cabinet, has held Amit Shah responsible for the party’s loss.
‘PM Should Have Shown Restraint’
“Shah should not have issued statements related to Pakistan. There was no need to rake up cow/beef issues at all. Besides, the PM should have exercised restraint in lashing out at his opponents. Many people did not like the kind of language and taunts he used for his opponents,” the soft-spoken Yadav said in an uncharacteristic manner.
Patna Sahib MP Shatrughan Sinha has been the most vocal of all the rebels. Since electioneering started, he cautioned the party leaders (who were willing to listen to him) that the BJP should avoid a negative campaign as it could prove counter-productive.
Shatru’s Tweets
In his latest tweet on Thursday, Shatru said though he never desired to be declared Bihar’s CM candidate, had he been projected so, the BJP would have won a few more seats.
To buttress his point, he cited how he has won two Lok Sabha polls (besides being a two-term Rajya Sabha member), with a record margin in 2009 and 2014.
His party colleague and bureaucrat-turned-MP from Ara, RK Singh, has already charged the BJP leaders with selling tickets before the polls. Other voices of discontent included Sushil Singh, Rama Singh and Chhedi Paswan in the midst of the polls.
Powerful Lot
These MPs are no pushovers. While Sushil had defeated former Kerala Governor Nikhil Kumar from Aurangabad, Rama Singh (of LJP) defeated veteran RJD leader and former minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh from Vaishali, while Chhedi Paswan defeated the then Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar from Sasaram.
Incidentally, the list of rebels does not belong to one particular faction or does not represent one particular caste. While one is a Yadav, the other is a Dalit, and three others are Rajputs. The sixth is a Kayastha and the last rebel is a Bhumihar. Some of them are known Advani loyalists, while others owe their origins to Rajnath Singh.
However, many of the marginalised BJP MPs are not as vocal as Shatrughan Sinha. This could well be the lull before the storm.
(The writer is a Bihar-based journalist)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)