New Delhi:
As the BJP grapples with the defiance of Vasundhara Raje and Arun Shourie, it has now received a letter bomb from its sacked Uttarakhand chief minister BC Khanduri, who was removed in the last week of May.
According to reports, BC Khanduri has written to BJP chief Rajnath Singh asking why he was removed from the chief minister's post.
Khanduri claims that he was made a scapegoat when he was widely blamed for leading the party to its worst-ever performance in the Uttarakhand Assembly elections. Now, he wants the BJP leadership to rethink his removal. He has also reportedly claimed that he has the support of 27 MLAs.
According to sources, the BJP president has denied receiving any letter from Khanduri.
Khanduri's letter bomb comes even as the BJP is still in a dilemma over what to do with its dissenters -- Rajya Sabha MP Arun Shourie and Rajasthan's Leader of Opposition Vasundhara Raje Scindia.
After all the flak that it has received over the summary expulsion of senior leader Jaswant Singh and the growing perception that it's a party in crisis, the party leadership seems keen to shed that tag.
It is thus treading cautiously. After initial reports of a standoff between Vasundhara and party President Rajnath Singh, the party seems to have arrived at some sort of an understanding with Vasundhara, who has now has been allowed to hold the Legislature Party meeting on Wednesday.
Arun Shourie has been merely asked to clarify the comments he made in an interview to NDTV, where he called party president Rajnath Singh Alice in Blunderland and described the leadership as Humpty Dumpty.