New Delhi: With its good governance agenda facing a big challenge due to the developments of the past few days, the ruling BJP has also now been hit with dissension and internal rifts. Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to shift Ms Sushma Swaraj from the external affairs ministry if not drop her from the government altogether, and to replace Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
As trouble in the government and the party escalated, the Prime Minister met home minister Rajnath Singh to discuss the situation. With veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani taking yet another swipe apparently at the PM by hinting at dictatorial tendencies of the government, the party is now forced to move from one crisis to another.
Ms Swaraj and Ms Raje are, incidentally, considered to be close to Mr Advani. Another party veteran, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, met Ms Swaraj at her residence late in the evening.
Raje, who appears to be isolated in the BJP at this juncture, has decided to face the crisis on her own. Daring the party to sack her, Ms Raje apparently sent a clear signal to the BJP leadership that she was “in no mood to quit”. She is annoyed with the party’s decision to “drop her like a hot brick” while coming out in open support of Ms Swaraj.
Her son Dushyant Singh, a BJP MP, who is under attack over reports that his company Niyant Heritage Hotels Pvt Ltd (NHHPL), had received investments from former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi’s firm, claimed his company had not done “anything illegal nor committed any irregularity”.
Though the RSS appears to be standing firmly behind Ms Swaraj, a section in the party is mounting pressure on Modi to shift her to another ministry. Meanwhile, according to TV reports Ms Swaraj may have kept Indian envoys in Europe in the dark over her alleged contacts with the former IPL boss.
