BJP short of heroes as Shatru flies off to USA

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, April 30: INSTEAD of campaigning in the five states going to polls, BJP’s star campaigner Shatrughan Sinha has decided to quietly fly off to the USA, sending the party leadership into a tizzy.

Since another star campaigner, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, will not be able to campaign for more than three days in all, the BJP is desperately looking for a face-lift amidst Tehelka controversy.

Though the BJP has a battery of 20-odd campaigners who will burn the midnight oil to garner votes for the battered party, it sent an SOS to Sinha to make himself available. In reply, Sinha is believed to have suggested that the party take Union Health Minister C.P. Thakur on the campaign trail. Sinha has reportedly been angry with the party leadership over his exclusion from the Union ministry and induction of ‘‘rootless’’ leaders like Thakur.

However, Sinha’s official explanation was different. He told the leadership that he had prior commercial commitments in the US which could not be cancelled. Sinha’s decision to stay away has sent BJP’s plans to mobilise crowds at the rallies topsy-turvy. When contacted, Sinha told The Indian Express that he planned to leave for the USA on May 5 but declined to elaborate on what he would be doing there.

After Shatrughan Sinha, it is Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sushma Swaraj who is in great demand. She will be campaigning for the party in all five states for a total of six days. In fact, Sushma has even spent time improving her oratory skills in Bengali and Tamil to woo voters.

Sports Minister Uma Bharti is next on the rating graph of the BJP candidates and she too will be campaigning for six days. According to information available with the BJP’s control room, the Prime Minister will address six rallies in three days — in Chennai, Thiruvantpuram, Malda, Kolkata, Guwahati and Silchar.

Strangely, the popular ‘‘Atalji’’ is not much in demand. Union Home Minister L.K. Advani, HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi will also be campaigning for six days each and will address 15-odd meetings. Rural Development Minister M. Venkiah Naidu will confine himself to Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry where Law Minister Arun Jaitley will assist him. Interestingly, this will be Arun Jaitley’s maiden entry into a poll campaign after becoming a minister. In order to lure Muslim voters, Coal Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain has been pressed into service by the leadership, and will address a series of meetings. Similarly, UP Chief Minister Rajnath Singh will woo Rajput voters. He has replaced Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as the ‘‘new messiah’’ for the community.

Tribal and Backward Class leaders such as Joel Oran, Babulal Marandi and Karia Munda will also be campaigning in the five states. Party president Jana Krishnamurthy will be devoting a full five days to Tamil Nadu, his native state. Narendra Modi and Pyarelal Khandelawal have been deputed to supervise the elections and address workers meeting and rallies.

But what is worrying the leadership in the campaign is the absence of national issues. While the Opposition parties have Tehelka, the stock market scam and the Bangladesh bungle, the ruling NDA is hard pressed for issues with which to attack the Congress.

No doubt, the BJP leadership is trying desperately to corner Sonia Gandhi for disrupting Parliament, but the fact that the Budget was passed after a debate is unlikely to have the desired effect. Instead, the BJP is trying to focus on local issues in each of these states while the Congress strategy has been to harp on the failure of the Government on national issues.