New Delhi, August 26: Even as the BJP struggled to resolve its dilemma, whether to axe its rebel leader Arun Shourie and party president Rajnath Singh just asked for an explanation, senior leader Ram Naik attacked Shourie.
Naik, who heads the party’s disciplinary panel, expressed his readiness to punish Shourie. He called Shourie’s attack on the BJP and its president an act of gross indiscipline.
Naik even raised a question on Shourie’s existence in the party saying he had hardly contributed anything to the BJP.
Meanwhile, Shourie seemed to have mellowed down his tone. He seemed to be playing safe by now refusing to comment any further.
In a closed door meeting held on Tuesday, the BJP office bearers decided to go soft on Shourie. For the time being, the party decided against expulsion, suspension or even giving a show-cause notice to Shourie.
Why is BJP scared of acting against Shourie?
But why has the party been desisting from taking action against Shourie in sharp contrast to Jaswant Singh, who was expelled from the BJP over phone without being allowed to speak on his book that glorified Jinnah and was harsh on Sardar Patel?
The BJP leadership fears that action against Shourie after dumping Jaswant will take away the fear of being acted against among a horde of dissenters like Vasundhara Raje and Yashwant Sinha and the party could then disintegrate.
Rajnath’s current tenure as the president ends in December. He is trying to avoid matters coming to a head till then so that he can have another shot at the presidentship.
Rajnath and Arun Jaitley have been on two sides of the BJP divide for long. Action against Shourie and its fearful fallout could give Jaitley the upper hand.
There could be a free for all to grab the top post in the party if Shourie is axed forcing the RSS to step in. The party wants to avoid such a situation
—Agencies