New Delhi, July 07: Publicly criticising party colleagues for airing criticism of party ideology and strategy to the media apparently after the Lok Sabha poll defeat, senior BJP leader L K Advani on Monday said the party seemed to have “too many spokespersons”.
The urge (among some party leaders) to see their names in newspapers …to see their face on TV for a few seconds … Sometimes, I feel there are too many spokespersons in our party,” Advani said at a function here to mark the birth anniversary of Jan Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mookherjee.
Several senior BJP leaders had spoken to news channels on the reasons for the party’s poll defeat and letters written by some party leaders discussing internal party matters and disagreements were leaked to the media, leaving the party red faced.
Reminiscing the sacrifices made by Mookherjee, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and Atal Bihari Vajpayee to raise the party to its present state, Advani said the party should take all precautions to avoid mistakes as it negate these sacrifices.”
“Leaders like Mookherjee, Deen Dayal, and Vajpayee have raised this party to this level… we should prevent little mistakes on our part ….”, he said.
Advani said the recent election loss should not dishearten BJP members as the party had faced several “ups and downs” in the past. The party still has 116 Lok Sabha MPs. The Leader of the Opposition said all was not lost for BJP after recent poll debacle. “The party has a bright future,” he claimed.
Advani told the audience that in his meeting with visiting Bhutanese Prime Minister two days ago, the latter had asked him what went wrong for BJP in Lok Sabha polls. In reply, Advani said though his party had lost, its biggest contribution over the years was turning Indian polity into a bi-polar one by ending the monopoly of Congress.
Advani said the BJP should learn from Mookherjee who used to be ready to give the party presidentship to whichever leader expressed his desire for the post.
“Then it was a small party but due to the impressive talent of Mookherjee people were attracted to it,” he said. Reminding the present leadership of the lows that the party had faced in the past but emerged with renewed vigour, Advani said, “When Mookherjee died, for sometime many felt there is nothing left…”
The former Deputy Prime Minister said the death of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya in 1967 soon after the Calicut conclave was another blow to the party.
He also praised Vajpayee for his contribution in making BJP a strong political party.
-Agencies