Despite being flaunted as a ‘party with a difference’, the BJP seems to have been reduced to one plagued with indiscipline. This was evident from what happened at the party’s headquarters in Dehradun on Tuesday. The followers of the city BJP president Umesh Aggarwal who lost the race of candidature to Mayor Vinod Chamoli who has been awarded nomination for Dharampur Assembly constituency vandalised the office, tore and pulled down banners bearing the logo of BJP aside from smashing the window panes.
While Congress was quick to scoff at BJP, ridiculing its claim to be a disciplined, cadre-based party, BJP brass was indeed left red-faced. Asked for his reaction for what happened on Tuesday, State BJP spokesperson Vinay Goyal pleaded his ignorance of what happened, saying that the persons involved in the bout of vandalism would be found out and adequately punished if they proved to be BJP activists. “However, if they are found out to be outsiders we would lodge criminal cases against them,” he added, indicating that the rowdy elements might have been unleashed by the rivals to dent into the image of the party ahead of the election. Talking to The Pioneer, he said the matter would be brought before the party’s disciplinary committee. “We would also lodge FIR if things warrant so,” he said.
However, it is a fact that two leaders Vinod Chamoli and Umesh Aggarwal were striving hard to get the ticket for Dharmapur, the competing claims that stopped the party from including the seat in the first list. The party seemed to have given them both time to prove their credibility to claim the seat. While Aggarwal sent his supporters to Delhi to stage dharna by way of pressuring the high command those loyal to Chamoli staged sit-in at the State BJP headquarters. The followers of the city mayor continued with their Bhajanspree for over 48 hours, something that seemed to have melted enough the heart of the top brass that awarded the much-prized ticket to him while giving short shrift to Aggarwal in the second list published late on Saturday.
Considered close to the former CM and the present MP from Pauri Gen Khanduri, Aggrawal shot to prominence in the State BJP politics when he acted as the representative of his mentor Khanduri when he used to be away in Delhi as the MP and the Union Minister.
Besides, he developed intimacy to other senior party leaders like the former State BJP president Teerath Singh Rawat who had appointed him as the city BJP president.
Interestingly, the miscreants tore the banner placed above the entrance of the conference hall. Besides, it happened in the full presence of the media. The media was invited to cover a few Congress leaders deserting the party and joining BJP to vent anger against the CM Harish Rawat for denying tickets to them.
Observers say that the incident has hurt the saffron party hard. “It was on an aggressive mode after vandalism, including a self-immolation bid, broke out at the Congress headquarters. Now with the same befalling them three days after the second list was made public, the saffron brass has slumped into the defensive mode. And this is the reason why they are suspecting outsiders in the unsavory incident,” said a political analysist.
Things were no better in the state Congress camp. Followers of Aryendra Sharma, who had been eying Sahaspur seat, went berserk after the party high command awarded the ticket to the state party chief Kishore Upadhyay. They were on the rampage for two days starting from Sunday, tearing banners and damaging furniture at the state party headquarters.