BJP'S EXECUTIVE WOMEN

LK Advani loves to share this tale with people. Almost half a century ago, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and he got themselves photographed in a group. A couple of years ago, an enterprising photojournalist captured the three, almost in a similar frame. The freeze-frame from the past was carried alongside the recent picture in a Hindi daily, and a proud Advani said that this camaraderie was only to be found in the BJP.

But there was one face missing in the frame. That was of Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia. The picture was incomplete without the woman who saw the party (and its predecessor, the Jan Sangh) through its most difficult years.

The point is relevant at a time when all parties are debating the Women’s Reservation Bill and the BJP has taken the lead in reserving one-third of party posts for women. Though the Congress had earlier announced its intention to take such a step, it is yet to induct additional women into its set-up.

That the saffron party’s women were making their presence felt was evident at the BJP National Council meet in Delhi earlier this year in January, when Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, hailed by party faithful as “a nationalist in the Savarkar mould”, found more than a match in Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. While other CMs held forth on their states’ achievements, Modi spoke of national affairs. A slighted Raje then roared: “Koi yeh nahin samjhe ki hum kisi se kam hain (we are second to none).”

Similarly, after the recent BJP victory in Karnataka, when Arun Jaitley was being feted for crafting the win, Sushma Swaraj, a key campaigner in the state, is learnt to have pointedly asked the leadership if she too hadn’t played a role. Advani was profuse in his praise for Swaraj.

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