Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday rejected suggestions that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s quota review remark had a negative impact on NDA’s poll prospects in Bihar and said social equations of the ‘Grand Alliance’ had cost the BJP-led grouping dearly. The BJP dismissed party MP Bhola Singh’s criticism of the top party leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the reverses in the Bihar poll.
Rajnath asserted that the Prime Minister cannot be held responsible for NDA’s humiliating defeat.
Singh, a party veteran from Bihar, accused the top leadership, including BJP president Amit Shah of injecting communalism in a campaign instead of focusing on the development of the State .
“The party rejects Singh’s criticism. We appeal to all party leaders to observe restraint,” BJP national secretary and its media department in-charge Shrikant Sharma
said here.
Sulking MPs like Shatrughan Sinha, RK Singh and Hukumdev Narayan Yadav have criticised party’s tactics. However, Singh is the first leader to target Modi and Shah.
Refuting party MP’s charge, BJP said it has been ruling maximum number of States and has more MlAs today under Modi’s and Shah’s leadership than any other party.
“We are proud that under Modi's leadership we are running maximum number of State Governments and have more MlAs than any other party,” Sharma said.
Defending the statement of the RSS head on the reservation issue during the election campaign, Rajnath said the former only said that reservation should continue.
“Bhagwat’s statement was not damaging. It was nothing controversial. We can’t think like that. He had only said that reservation should continue,” Singh said. Bhagwat had said there is a need to have a fresh look as to who should get the benefit of quota, in comments that kicked up a political storm ahead of the Bihar polls.
The Home Minister said this when asked whether the RSS chief’s statement favouring review of reservation policy had a negative impact on the prospects of NDA.
The Home Minister laughed at a question whether Modi will resign as Prime Minister taking moral responsibility for the BJP defeat,
sking, “what kind of question is thisIJ”
“It’s BJP’s loss and not of the Prime Minister,” he said.
Singh, a former BJP chief, also ruled out the possibility
of party chief Amit Shah being removed over the Bihar
debacle.
Amit Shah will remain as party chief for six more years. There is no hurdle. In fact, he got one and half years of my own tenure (as party chief) when I had moved from the party to the Government. After that he is entitled to two terms (of three years each)," he said.
Singh said the BJP will study and analyse all aspects of party’s defeat in the polls and will take action accordingly.
Asked about controversial statements made by some of the party leaders to whip up communal tension, Singh said “if there is any secular party in the country, it is BJP.”
Asked why BJP lost in Bihar despite the Prime Minister having held so many election rallies, he said every Prime Minister must have an interface with the public and election rallies in Bihar.
On whether action would be taken against leaders like Shatrughan Sinha and RK Singh, who had expressed resentment against the BJP leadership for certain decisions vis-a-vis Bihar polls, he said there was no such discussion at the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting Monday.