Shimla, August 19: Top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) on Wednesday began a brainstorming session here over the state of affairs in the party, in the wake of the Lok Sabha poll defeat and internal bickerings that have dented its image with senior leader Jaswant Singh keeping away from the opening session.
Singh, whose recent book hailed Pakistan founder Mohd Ali Jinah and from which the party has distanced itself completely, was in Shimla still staying put in his room of a hotel different from Peterhoff Hotel where the three-day chintan baithak is being held.
It was not known whether Singh had chosen to stay away from the first session or would join it later. However, party sources said the party leadership has not asked Singh to attend the sessions, indirectly telling him that he was not welcome at the gathering post Jinnah controversy.
Sources went on to say further that the top leadership was likely to take disciplinary action against the senior leader and may even expel him from the party’s parliamentary board.
Meanwhile, on the first of its three-day closed-door introspection meeting, the party leadership is expected to discuss the Bal Apte committee report which has been prepared on the basis of inputs from states on the reasons for the poor performance of the party in the Lok Sabha polls.
The next two days will discuss the future course of action of the party, learning from the lessons of the recent Lok Sabha elections. The party top brass will also strategise on the forthcoming Assembly Elections in Maharashtra and Haryana.
Other issues like the defiance shown by former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje after she was asked to quit as leader of opposition could also echo at the session.
The meeting is being attended by about 25 top BJP leaders including LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. According to reports, while Jaswant Singh had been invited to the meeting, senior leaders Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie were given a cold shoulder in the wake of their recent outburst against the top leadership for failing to take accountability for the Lok Sabha poll debacle.
Over 25 senior party leaders — including members of the parliamentary board and Chief Ministers Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), Ramesh Pokhriyal (Uttarakhand) and BS Yeddyurappa (Karnataka) — will participate in the three-day introspection exercise.
It is taking place in the shadow of the controversy surrounding Jaswant Singh’s book on Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s call for the young generation to take charge of the party.
The party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj has already indicated in New Delhi that former foreign minister Jaswant Singh’s views on Mohammad Ali Jinnah would certainly be the subject of a detailed discussion during the Shimla session.
–Agencies