Striving to set things right in the BJP, Leader of Opposition L K Advani on Tuesday reminded his MPs of the code of conduct and asked them to be extremely careful — whether it was while deciding on their questions to be asked in the two Houses, signing various documents, or appointing personal secretaries. A day after he hit out at the tendency among party leaders to use media to voice their opinion, Advani also stressed on setting things right at the weekly BJP Parliamentary Party meeting.

“Advani asked party MPs that they should not sign any documents without verifying and should also be careful in appointing personal secretaries. Last time we suffered due to this. They should also be careful in appointing aides,” said deputy Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.

While the BJP was trying to train its 58 first-time MPs into party’s culture and discipline, there was little to suggest that things were normal in the party. Senior party leader Yashwant Sinha, arguably the most articulate voice on finance and economy in the party, had not given his confirmation to speak on the Union Budget, till late in the day. There was a competition among senior leaders, including M M Joshi, on “who would initiate the debate in the House”, said sources. Another senior leader, Jaswant Singh, was still said to be “in his village” and party leaders claimed that “he had gone there for Guru Purnima”. Jaswant has earlier expressed his reservations over working under a much junior Sushma Swaraj, and then he was said to have problems over the allotted seat in the House.

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