File photo of Arun Jaitley
New Delhi:
In the middle of a make or break election, the BJP battles internal war being fought in public. Last night, senior leader Sushma Swaraj went public with her opposition to controversial Karnataka leader B Sriramulu re-joining the party.
"I want to make it absolutely clear that B Sriramulu has been admitted in the party despite my stiff opposition," she had tweeted.
Today morning there were red faces in the party over Ms Swaraj's public dissent as it challenged the decision of the BJP's top decision-making body, the parliamentary board, and dumped a rift in the party in public domain.
The counter to the tweet came from Arun Jaitley who today wrote in his blog that the party needs to concentrate on consolidating its gains and that "who's in, and who's out cannot dominate the party's political agenda."
"The BJP needs to concentrate on consolidating its gains... Between now and the polling date all BJP leaders and cadres must work towards the goal of adding an additional two percent votes across the country," Mr Jaitley wrote in his blog. (Read Arun Jaitley's blog here)
"Relatively marginal issues such as declaration of candidates particularly who is in and who is out cannot be allowed to dominate the political agenda in the BJP. These issues divert the attention from the core issues of governance," he added.
The party top brass was also unhappy that Ms Swaraj's public dissent raised the odds against Mr Sriramulu getting a ticket from Bellary. Which the BJP feels will help the party in north Karnataka.
Mr Sriramulu, a close aide of the jailed mining baron Janardhan Reddy, had left the BJP and formed the BSR Congress after differences with the party leadership over corruption allegations against him.
Ms Swaraj's objection, sources say, was discussed in the party's parliamentary board meeting on Thursday, but party president Rajnath Singh and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi decided to re-induct Mr Sriramulu. The proposal of his party's merger was dropped given Ms Swaraj's opposition.
In Mr Sriramulu's re-induction, the BJP is clearly looking at vote-catchers after their dismal performance in Assembly elections held last year. Mr Sriramulu, who wields influence over the Valmiki community, is expected to give incremental value to BJP in the districts of Bellary, Gadag, Koppal and Chitradurga. His BSR Congress had won four Assembly seats in the May 8 polls last year.
"I want to make it absolutely clear that B Sriramulu has been admitted in the party despite my stiff opposition," she had tweeted.
Today morning there were red faces in the party over Ms Swaraj's public dissent as it challenged the decision of the BJP's top decision-making body, the parliamentary board, and dumped a rift in the party in public domain.
The counter to the tweet came from Arun Jaitley who today wrote in his blog that the party needs to concentrate on consolidating its gains and that "who's in, and who's out cannot dominate the party's political agenda."
"The BJP needs to concentrate on consolidating its gains... Between now and the polling date all BJP leaders and cadres must work towards the goal of adding an additional two percent votes across the country," Mr Jaitley wrote in his blog. (Read Arun Jaitley's blog here)
"Relatively marginal issues such as declaration of candidates particularly who is in and who is out cannot be allowed to dominate the political agenda in the BJP. These issues divert the attention from the core issues of governance," he added.
The party top brass was also unhappy that Ms Swaraj's public dissent raised the odds against Mr Sriramulu getting a ticket from Bellary. Which the BJP feels will help the party in north Karnataka.
Mr Sriramulu, a close aide of the jailed mining baron Janardhan Reddy, had left the BJP and formed the BSR Congress after differences with the party leadership over corruption allegations against him.
Ms Swaraj's objection, sources say, was discussed in the party's parliamentary board meeting on Thursday, but party president Rajnath Singh and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi decided to re-induct Mr Sriramulu. The proposal of his party's merger was dropped given Ms Swaraj's opposition.
In Mr Sriramulu's re-induction, the BJP is clearly looking at vote-catchers after their dismal performance in Assembly elections held last year. Mr Sriramulu, who wields influence over the Valmiki community, is expected to give incremental value to BJP in the districts of Bellary, Gadag, Koppal and Chitradurga. His BSR Congress had won four Assembly seats in the May 8 polls last year.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
