Gadkari to BJP top brass: Stop sniping at each other,please

“It was an in-house session today — the presidential speech would be delivered tomorrow,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said. But that was only for the record.

For Gadkari hit out hard at rampant factionalism in the party. He told the 250-odd members of the national executive: “Apni rekha badi karein naa ki doosron ki rekha chhoti. Jinko party ne sab kuch diya hai,unki vajeh se party ko mushkil na face karna pade,” (You must not run others down; the party has faced difficulties due to those who have got so much from the party).

“Although I started on a tentative note,I am far more confident today,after having received support from all senior leaders,” a leader present at the national executive meet quoted Gadkari as telling the delegates.

Gadkari’s other two interventions,however,suggested changes in the offing. Referring to a suggestion made by the Punjab unit of the BJP,Gadkari said: “I don’t believe in protocol.

Punj (who looks after Punjab state BJP) recently suggested to me to be the chief guest to unveil a bust of Shyama Prasad Mookerjee at Pathankot. I suggested that let Mohan Bhagwatji and L K Advaniji do the honours there and I would be there as any other leader”.

Mookerjee had visited Pathankot as part of his long-drawn struggle for “complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the test of the country” and the BJP,as also the RSS,regards Mookerjee as one its ideological mentors.

This was,however,for the first time that Gadkari — conceived to be close to the RSS sarsanghchalak — didn’t shy away from suggesting that the party involve Bhagwat for a function conceived by the party.

After listing antyodaya as the party’s ideological compass (serving the last man in the line),Gadkari sought to espouse a “Dalit agenda” for the party. After visiting (B R Ambedkar’s birthplace) Mhow yesterday to garland the statue of Ambedkar,he visited a Dalit home where he had a meal (something that Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has been doing for sometime). Gadkari urged party leaders not to worry about electoral dividend but “work compassionately” for Dalits.

Gadkari also spoke about the challenges on the foreign policy front. He said that while the threat from Pakistan was all too evident,the threat from China required urgent attention too,and that an all-India programme would be organized by the party soon.

The BJP plans to bring in two resolutions tomorrow: one on national security,and the other on price rise.