Age Correspondent
New Delhi, Nov. 6: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, cracking the whip on a beleaguered BJP, has indicated that the next BJP president will not be from Delhi, nor from among the famous four (Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar). While the remarks, made in the course of a TV interview, rattled the BJP and the aspirants for the post, a section in the party felt the RSS was now planning to bring in a "Maharashtrian brahmin" as the new party chief.
This particular section tacitly accused Mr Bhagwat, a Maharashtrian himself, of promoting leadership from his own state. They felt Maharashtra state unit BJP chief Nitin Gadkari could be Mr Bhagwat’s man for the job.
When asked specifically whether he had said the new leadership would be "other than these four (Mr Jaitley, Ms Swaraj, Mr Venkaiah Naidu and Mr Ananth Kumar), Mr Bhagwat replied: "Yes, the new leadership, will be someone other than these four. This is what I have been told. This is what has been agreed on. And I believe the process has begun."
In the interview, Mr Bhagwat also disagreed with Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani’s remarks that the demolition of the Babri Masjid was a "national shame". Mr Bhagwat replied: "I do not agree with Advani on this issue.,. Why didn’t they give legal permission for kar seva when so many people had collected for it?"
Though a particular section felt Mr Gadkari was the RSS man for BJP chief, others felt the Sangh could also bring in former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar.
While confusion continues to plague the party, there is still no indication from Mr Advani on his retirement plans. Speculation is rife that Mr Advani might signal he is stepping down as Leader of the Opposition on Sunday, his birthday. However, Ms Swaraj, who was a contender for BJP chief and had attached herself to the Advani bandwagon, had refuted this. But senior BJP leaders seem to be at their wits’ end. "We have no idea. God only knows" are the usual comments in saffron circles on the Advani issue.
