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Chorus of support for Joshi; state unit moves to quell disquiet
Prominent leaders who have opposed Joshi’s expulsion include former chief parliamentary secretary and former Jalandhar North MLA, KD Bhandari; former minister Master Mohan Lal; former deputy mayor from Ludhiana RD Sharma and former state youth wing chief, Mohit Gupta
Chandigarh With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expelling former minister Anil Joshi last week over his perceived tirade against the party on the issue of farm agitation, the saffron party is now moving fast to placate leaders who have publicly extended support to Joshi.
Prominent leaders who have opposed Joshi’s expulsion include former chief parliamentary secretary and former Jalandhar North MLA, KD Bhandari; former minister Master Mohan Lal; former deputy mayor from Ludhiana RD Sharma and former state youth wing chief, Mohit Gupta.
A senior party functionary said the core committee of the state unit has deputed senior functionaries to talk to these leaders. He added that disciplinary action against them would be initiated only if they continue to give statements on the lines of Joshi.
Sources added that Avinash Rai Khanna, who is in-charge of BJP for Himachal Pradesh, and Union minister Som Parkash have been asked to speak to Bhandari on the issue of supporting Joshi. Bhandari is also a close relative of Khanna.
Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma, himself, has successfully placated former minister Master Mohan Lal. The two leaders met over a cup of tea on Sunday. Lal had criticised the Centre for not giving enough representation to Punjab in the recent Cabinet reshuffle. After his meeting with Sharma, Lal said, “The party is like my mother and I won’t leave it.”
“Those leaders who have expressed their feelings over Joshi’s expulsion have done no wrong. The party respects their feelings. These leaders are well aware that Anil became ‘minister Anil Joshi’ only because of the BJP. The party expelled him with a heavy heart,” Sharma said.
Joshi had already decided
to leave party: Sharma
The state BJP chief, who is being targeted by Joshi for giving wrong feedback to the party high command on farmers’ protests, claimed that Joshi was lying on the issue.
“Even Joshi is aware that how closely the Central and the state unit functions. You look at Sunday’s Rajpura episode. Within half an hour of some miscreants attacking our leaders and holding them hostage, our Central leadership called them up and extended full moral support. Can anyone believe, that the Central leadership was not aware what was happening in Punjab when these laws were enacted?” he claimed.
He added that Joshi had already made up his mind to leave the BJP and did media interviews against the state and Central leadership in a well-planned manner.
