New Delhi:
Nitin Gadkari stood completely isolated on Wednesday with leaders from the BJP and its parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), expressing fierce criticism of a major decision he made. As the president of the BJP, Mr Gadkari had decided that the party would back Anshuman Mishra, an independent MLA from Jharkhand, for the Rajya Sabha election. On Wednesday evening, his party made it clear that would not be the case. In a statement, the RSS clarified, "The decision to support Anshuman Mishra is incorrect...support will hurt BJP and Sangh's anti-corruption campaign."
Shortly after that, Mr Mishra announced he was withdrawing his nomination. That spares the BJP the embarrassment of having to vote against a candidate whose nomination papers carry the signatures of six of its MLAs from Jharkhand.
Mr Mishra, a 37-year-old businessman from London, has accomplished a rare feat - he united the senior-most leaders of the BJP. From LK Advani to Sushma Swaraj, they all agreed that the entrepreneur's background and his status as an "outsider" in Jharkhand make him an unsuitable candidate. But nobody opposed Mr Mishra more vociferously than Yashwant Sinha, who said that by supporting him, the BJP is tempting its MLAS in Jharkhand to sell their vote.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Mishra said, "I am actively considering withdrawing, but I won't take any decision based on what Yashwant Sinha has to say. If senior leaders of the party, Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj or the party president ask me to step down, I will be more than happy to do so." Later in the day, he explained, "I just want to serve my nation, as I am young...I will not fight the election on the basis of money. There are some leaders of the BJP who are aged, they should retire now...I will fight for the Rajya Sabha elections."
Mr Mishra has delivered Kushwaha Part 2 for the BJP. Before the elections in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Gadkari welcomed into the BJP Babu Singh Kushwaha, who had been sacked from the government and from his party on corruption charges. After outrage among leaders like Ms Swaraj and Uma Bharti, the party said that Mr Kushwaha had "volunteered" to suspend his membership of the BJP till he is cleared of the allegations against him. He is currently in jail.