Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07NEWDELHI535
2007-02-02 12:30:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy New Delhi
Cable title:
BJP LEADERSHIP SHUFFLE COMPOUNDS CONFUSION
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000535
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM KIRF IN
SUBJECT: BJP LEADERSHIP SHUFFLE COMPOUNDS CONFUSION
Classified By: Political Counselor Ted Osius for reasons 1.4 (B,D)
Rajnath Singh Shakes Up the Leadership
-------------------------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000535
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM KIRF IN
SUBJECT: BJP LEADERSHIP SHUFFLE COMPOUNDS CONFUSION
Classified By: Political Counselor Ted Osius for reasons 1.4 (B,D)
Rajnath Singh Shakes Up the Leadership
--------------
1. (U) On January 29, BJP Party President Rajnath Singh
announced a shake-up in the party leadership. He moved Arun
Jaitley, considered by many to be the most articulate and
perhaps the sharpest of the party's Generation Next
leadership, from "Party Spokesman" to "Secretary of the
Parliamentary Board," a position unfilled since the death of
Pramod Mahajan in May 2006. In a surprise move, Singh also
dropped controversial but popular BJP standard bearer Gujarat
Chief Minister Narendra Modi from the Parliamentary Board and
the Central Election Committee (CEC). Considered among the
most prestigious BJP leadership organizations, the CEC
distributes valuable election tickets for all state and
parliamentary elections. Politics watchers characterized
these developments as a reflection of the deep divisions
within the BJP and between Party President Rajnath Singh and
Opposition Leader LK Advani. Modi is considered to be among
Advani's leading political proteges, and his dismissal was
intrepreted as an attempt by Rajnath Singh to snub his
archrival.
Putting the Best Face Forward
--------------
2. (C) However, Seshadiri Chari, (former editor of the BJP
newspaper the Organizer and an RSS insider) denied that there
was any antipathy between Singh and Advani. Chari insisted
to us that the move was actually part of an RSS strategy
aimed at preparing Modi for a greater role in the 2009
national elections. According to Chari, the RSS concurred
with Singh's move to relieve Modi of distracting
administrative duties and free him to campaign throughout
India and boost his image and profile. Modi's recent visit
to Kerala is supposedly part of this strategy. As evidence
of the RSS imprint on this leadership shuffle, Chari pointed
out that Rajnath also inducted several hardline Hindutva
types with strong RSS connections into leadership positions.
These include Ram Lal, a senior RSS member named BJP Party
Secretary, and Ananth Kumar, an RSS favorite, named to the
SIPDIS
Parliamentary board. Other hardliners pushed up to the
leadership include Balbir Punj and Dharmendra Pradhan, both
named as BJP Secretaries. Chari maintained that former
Foreign Minister Yashwant Singh was made a Party Vice
President as a reward for towing the RSS line. If Chari's
version is correct, these shifts are actually evidence that
the RSS is tightening its direct control over the BJP.
The BJP Schism is Alive and Well
--------------
3. (SBU) In addition to the murky infighting within the
party leadership, the BJP has undergone a schism, with the
formation by former BJP superstar Uma Bharati of her own
Bharatiya Jan Shakti (BJS) party. Initially, the BJP
dismissed the BJS as an ineffectual vanity party and
predicted that Bharati would soon come begging to be
readmitted. Things have not turned out that way. The BJS
has become a major challenge to BJP domination of the Hindu
right. On January 29, former Delhi Chief Minister Madanlal
NEW DELHI 00000535 002 OF 002
Khurana announced that he had permanently cut his ties with
the BJP and had signed on to the BSP as "acting Party
President." On the same day, Bharati announced that her
party would contest all seats in the upcoming Uttarakhand
elections, and field a large number of candidates in Uttar
Pradesh and Punjab, as well as contesting most seats in the
New Delhi municipal polls scheduled for March.
Comment - Couldn't Happen to Nicer Guys
--------------
4. (C) BJP infighting is good news for Congress. The
recently published India Today poll indicated that Congress
is slowly gaining popularity and firming up its hold on
power, while the BJP continues to stagnate. With this in
mind, a solid majority of Indians now feel that Congress will
serve out its full five year term and do fairly well in this
year's state election contests, where the BJP has not yet
gained traction. With the BJP and BJS now fighting over the
same set of right-wing voters, BJP support will be more split
than ever. The BJP has been locked in an ideological
struggle between its saffron (Hindutva) wing and its
pro-business wing since it lost power in 2004. Most in
Congress would welcome the emergence of the Hindutva crowd at
the helm of the party, as religious nationalism no longer
seems to be the winning card that will propel the BJP back to
power. It also scares the hell out of much of the electorate.
5. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website:
(http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/sa/newdelhi/)
MULFORD
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM KIRF IN
SUBJECT: BJP LEADERSHIP SHUFFLE COMPOUNDS CONFUSION
Classified By: Political Counselor Ted Osius for reasons 1.4 (B,D)
Rajnath Singh Shakes Up the Leadership
--------------
1. (U) On January 29, BJP Party President Rajnath Singh
announced a shake-up in the party leadership. He moved Arun
Jaitley, considered by many to be the most articulate and
perhaps the sharpest of the party's Generation Next
leadership, from "Party Spokesman" to "Secretary of the
Parliamentary Board," a position unfilled since the death of
Pramod Mahajan in May 2006. In a surprise move, Singh also
dropped controversial but popular BJP standard bearer Gujarat
Chief Minister Narendra Modi from the Parliamentary Board and
the Central Election Committee (CEC). Considered among the
most prestigious BJP leadership organizations, the CEC
distributes valuable election tickets for all state and
parliamentary elections. Politics watchers characterized
these developments as a reflection of the deep divisions
within the BJP and between Party President Rajnath Singh and
Opposition Leader LK Advani. Modi is considered to be among
Advani's leading political proteges, and his dismissal was
intrepreted as an attempt by Rajnath Singh to snub his
archrival.
Putting the Best Face Forward
--------------
2. (C) However, Seshadiri Chari, (former editor of the BJP
newspaper the Organizer and an RSS insider) denied that there
was any antipathy between Singh and Advani. Chari insisted
to us that the move was actually part of an RSS strategy
aimed at preparing Modi for a greater role in the 2009
national elections. According to Chari, the RSS concurred
with Singh's move to relieve Modi of distracting
administrative duties and free him to campaign throughout
India and boost his image and profile. Modi's recent visit
to Kerala is supposedly part of this strategy. As evidence
of the RSS imprint on this leadership shuffle, Chari pointed
out that Rajnath also inducted several hardline Hindutva
types with strong RSS connections into leadership positions.
These include Ram Lal, a senior RSS member named BJP Party
Secretary, and Ananth Kumar, an RSS favorite, named to the
SIPDIS
Parliamentary board. Other hardliners pushed up to the
leadership include Balbir Punj and Dharmendra Pradhan, both
named as BJP Secretaries. Chari maintained that former
Foreign Minister Yashwant Singh was made a Party Vice
President as a reward for towing the RSS line. If Chari's
version is correct, these shifts are actually evidence that
the RSS is tightening its direct control over the BJP.
The BJP Schism is Alive and Well
--------------
3. (SBU) In addition to the murky infighting within the
party leadership, the BJP has undergone a schism, with the
formation by former BJP superstar Uma Bharati of her own
Bharatiya Jan Shakti (BJS) party. Initially, the BJP
dismissed the BJS as an ineffectual vanity party and
predicted that Bharati would soon come begging to be
readmitted. Things have not turned out that way. The BJS
has become a major challenge to BJP domination of the Hindu
right. On January 29, former Delhi Chief Minister Madanlal
NEW DELHI 00000535 002 OF 002
Khurana announced that he had permanently cut his ties with
the BJP and had signed on to the BSP as "acting Party
President." On the same day, Bharati announced that her
party would contest all seats in the upcoming Uttarakhand
elections, and field a large number of candidates in Uttar
Pradesh and Punjab, as well as contesting most seats in the
New Delhi municipal polls scheduled for March.
Comment - Couldn't Happen to Nicer Guys
--------------
4. (C) BJP infighting is good news for Congress. The
recently published India Today poll indicated that Congress
is slowly gaining popularity and firming up its hold on
power, while the BJP continues to stagnate. With this in
mind, a solid majority of Indians now feel that Congress will
serve out its full five year term and do fairly well in this
year's state election contests, where the BJP has not yet
gained traction. With the BJP and BJS now fighting over the
same set of right-wing voters, BJP support will be more split
than ever. The BJP has been locked in an ideological
struggle between its saffron (Hindutva) wing and its
pro-business wing since it lost power in 2004. Most in
Congress would welcome the emergence of the Hindutva crowd at
the helm of the party, as religious nationalism no longer
seems to be the winning card that will propel the BJP back to
power. It also scares the hell out of much of the electorate.
5. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website:
(http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/sa/newdelhi/)
MULFORD