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Lakhimpur in focus, BJP mulls damage control measures
The UP Assembly elections are due in a few months and the buzz is that the BJP could replace many sitting lawmakers in a bid to beat incumbency
LUCKNOW Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker and the country’s junior home minister Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’ and his son Ashish are in the news ever since the Lakhimpur violence left four farmers among eight dead on October 3. The minister’s son has been arrested, but the opposition is now pressing for the removal of the union minister.
Battling the latest crisis, and one which provided fresh ammunition to the opposition months ahead of the 2022 UP polls, this is not the first time when the ruling party has been embarrassed by its own leaders.
The elections are due in a few months and the buzz is that the BJP could replace many sitting lawmakers in a bid to beat incumbency. It’s in this backdrop that party leaders admit that ahead of the ticket distribution the party needs to send out a strong signal that indiscipline won’t be tolerated.
“Being in the ruling party has its own responsibilities. Acts of some of our people are tarnishing the party’s image. Ahead of UP polls, we do need to send out a message and that’s what the party would be mulling too. One bad statement or deed causes immense damage,” said a senior BJP leader.
Since June, the BJP in UP has consistently run into problems caused by its own leaders.
During his recent meetings with party lawmakers and functionaries, chief minister Yogi Adityanath has been talking of the need to project a good image of the party, admitted leaders. The RSS too is reportedly unhappy at the manner in which some leaders have been bringing the party to disrepute.
“If I start counting the number of initiatives taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi or chief minister Yogi Adityanath for the people, it will possibly consume all of newspaper space. Yet, despite doing such good work, it is opposition build-up over Lakhimpur that is dominating media space and that is what is frustrating. Moreover, this isn’t the first time we have faced flak due to our own people,” a party leader admitted.
In June, even as the party was recovering from the barrage of complaints of lack of medical treatment and inadequate health infrastructure during the second Covid surge in April-May, not just from masses but from party’s lawmakers too, a viral video of a local leader Narayan Singh Bhadauria allegedly helping a wanted criminal escape after his arrest in Kanpur made the party leadership squirm.
Bhadauria was subsequently stripped of his post and arrested. But by then, the opposition had rammed the ruling party over the manner in which its leaders were undermining law in the state. The BJP had come to power in 2017 promising an end to what it termed ‘goondaraj’ (lawlessness) during the Samajwadi Party rule.
BJP’s Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj also didn’t help matters when he publicly blessed a candidate for district panchayat chief’s post, who contested as an independent despite being replaced by the BJP leadership.
The BJP was forced to change the ticket of Arun Singh after the Unnao rape victim objected to the party’s choice, alleging that he was “very close” to former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was convicted for the crime. Sengar, a former lawmaker from Unnao’s Bangarmau seat, was accused of rape by the victim in 2017. A Delhi court had sentenced Sengar to life imprisonment in the case in December 2019.
“Such actions by a section of party people lead to unnecessary controversy and a lot of precious time is wasted in damage control. The BJP governments at the centre and in UP have done great development, but such things divert focus and give an opportunity to the opposition to get at us,” said a party leader. This party leader too spoke of the need to rein in such leaders.
“Under the BJP government, the police have a free hand. As and when cases have come to light, action has been initiated both by the party and the police. The party has stripped such leaders of post and the police have quickly arrested the accused. The latest example is the arrest of the son of the union minister of state for home. Yet, such is perception and political play that despite the party making it clear that police have been given a free hand to unravel the truth behind the Lakhimpur violence, opposition is focused on their demand to dismiss the minister,” said another BJP leader.
