Shourie takes a swipe at Jaitely; seeks accountability

BJP leader Arun Shourie, who has raised questions in the aftermath of the party's Lok Sabha election debacle, on Saturday sought accountability on the part of leaders for the defeat saying it was not enough for the party president Rajnath Singh alone to own up responsibility.

Another senior leader Jaswant Singh, who has also questioned the way appointments have been made to the parliamentary party posts rewarding those responsible for failure, has said he would not contest elections any more and he was not hankering after power.

Speaking at the national executive, Shourie demanded that ten leaders be brought from outside Delhi as part of efforts to rejuvenate the organisation.

The former journalist did not name anyone but was apparently referring to Arun Jaitley when he said those responsible for the defeat have skipped the executive meeting but they would be the ones who would do the 'chintan baithak' (brain storming) on the defeat at a later defeat.

Referring to Rajnath Singh's inaugural speech in which he had said he was willing to take responsibility for the defeat, then as the president he was willing to take it, the former journalist said why he alone should take responsibility.  There were other people responsible for the defeat, he added.

Shourie, who had written a letter to Rajnath Singh and which was not allowed to be circulated at a party office bearers meeting on Friday, wanted an inquiry into how their letters were being leaked.

He also blamed six unnamed journalists who, he said, were responsible for articles being written in the media damaging the party interest.

Party spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters that Shourie has talked of a mechanism in the party for ensuring accountability. Shourie wanted more people to be involved in the process of analysing the defeat.

He said Jaswant Singh has not said he was quitting politics but only said he would not like to hold any posts.

Shourie said there was too much centralisation with the result that even where a hoarding should be put up was directed from Delhi.

On reports that he was reluctant to give up the office he was enjoying as Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Jaswant Singh it was too petty a matter for him to worry and regretted that debate in the party has come to such levels.

Jaswant Singh said he had given up life in the Army to join politics and has been in the party for decades and was not hankering after posts.  He indicated he would may not contest polls in future.

A former Chief Minister and party veteran, Sundar Lal Patwa asked the partymen not to lose heart saying this defeat was nothing compared to old days when saving deposits used to be a cause for celebrations.

But he expressed over media leaks of what was happening in the party and counselled leaders to raising what they want in party fora.