Questions over Jaitley's resignation

A matter of routine has become a matter of intrigue. After being appointed Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, BJP leader Arun Jaitley quit as general secretary of the party on June 6.

"His resignation is a natural process and he is the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and also was the general secretary, so he had to give up one post," BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said.

It was a natural process, except nobody knew till today, which turned out a fertile situation for conspiracy theories at a time when the party leaders are in a battle to succeed Advani.

So, why did the party keep the information about the resignation under wraps for more than a week? And within the party many are questioning the time of the leak today.

Jaitley has been the target of attacks by dissenting voices like Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh. And the turmoil is expected to get worse when the party goes looking for a new president in a few months' time.

"When I was party president, nobody left," senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said.

For the record, party leaders are sticking by a gag order, not uttering a word about the turmoil within. But yet, somehow, they are keeping the leadership on tenterhooks through barbs and poetry.