The internal dissensions and bickering in Chandigarh BJP is coming out openly ahead of the lok Sabha elections schedule next year.
Vying for party’s ticket from Chandigarh parliamentary seat, the three big-shots of city BJP, including city BJP president Sanjay Tandon, former Union Minister Harmohan Dhawan and former city MP and chairman of BJP National legal Working Group Satya Pal Jain are actively working “separately” for the party. The infighting seems to be at its peak within the party, as the three senior leaders are organising party’s functions, campaigns, meetings etc. “separately” without apprising each other about the same.
These leaders are fighting tooth and nail to consolidate their position within the party and have now also set up separate media cells. While functions, meetings and other events attended by party chief Tandon are looked after by media cell of Chandigarh BJP, Jain and Dhawan have different media cells. Aiming to steal the limelight at every party’s event, the media cells of these leaders are toiling all day long coordinating with local and national media for coverage. Not only this, these media cells are compiling the records of news coverage and other works done by their respective leaders to send it to the party high command.
Aspiring to be in the good books of BJP high command, these leaders are sending them the reports of their work for the party in Chandigarh. Although the parliamentary elections are months away, the enthusiasm in these three leaders to get party’s ticket is also apparent. From meeting senior administrative officials to organising daily functions, the trio is competing against each other to hit the headlines before the other catch media’s attention.
To consolidate their hold in the party and city, the three are working individually and meeting various communities, market committees, sabhas, visiting colonies and villages on daily basis. The recent visit of Baba Ramdev in the city was another instance where the three senior leaders tried their level best to make their presence felt. Even as the trio met the Yoga Guru together, their respective media cells issued different press releases to the media in an attempt to get maximum media attention.
The disunity among these leaders was also apparent during BJP’s massive protest against former Railway Minister and local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal in last few months. Fighting against their “common enemy” local MP, the trio “separately” held a number of press conferences under party’s name. Even as they all were busy extracting documentary proofs against Bansal and his family and after Railgate, they did not come together even once for over half-dozen press conferences held by the party.
A party leader requesting anonymity said, “The senior leaders Jain, Dhawan and Tandon do not get along well with each other since Tandon was given party presidential post for the second consecutive time in Chandigarh.” The BJP has remained ‘unfortunate’ three times in a row in the lok Sabha elections here. During 2009 lok Sabha elections, Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal had retained Chandigarh’s seat recording a hat-trick on the seat and defeating archrival Satya Pal Jain of BJP and Harmohan Dhawan, who had fought elections on BSP ticket then.