Four days after the Bihar poll debacle, disgruntled BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha and vocal party MP Bhola Singh from the State on Thursday continued to favour that the party must fix responsibility for the poll defeat in the State.
The MPs appeared unrelenting in the face of calls for “stringent action” against leaders making “irresponsible” statements with Sinha saying “we should not run away from fixing responsibility” and Bhola Singh calling for “introspection” to deal with “basic failures”.
There is a view in section in the BJP that wider consultations should be initiated to assimilate views of all key leaders as there was no reason for taking a stern view of dissenting voices after the poll reverses.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is understood to be of the view that the views of the veterans should be examined so that “corrective” steps could be taken. Four of the senior BJP leaders — lK Advani, MM Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Shanta Kumar — had on Tuesday issued a statement asking party to comprehensively review the reasons of defeat in the high-stage Bihar polls and “fix responsibility” for it.
Welcoming the statement of party veterans, Sinha tweeted: “Nonetheless, now that the verdict is out and we’re saddened by this humiliating defeat, we should not run away from fixing responsibility.”
“Right and high time to follow the friend, philosopher, guru, Guiding light & his team of 4. Relay race has begun. Gang of 4-Bang on target,” he said in another tweet in a reference to the demand of the veterans.
The BJP elders had charged that the party has been “emasculated” in the last one year and was being “forced to kow-tow to a handful.” They demanded a thorough review of the debacle.
Sinha also said that he had never suggested that Bihar Assembly poll results could have been different had he been declared the Chief Ministerial candidate. He said he had only said that things could have been better if he had campaigned in the elections.
Meanwhile, Begusarai BJP MP Bhola Singh said the Bihar poll outcome has proved that Modi magic is “not durable”.
Singh, who had termed as “undignified” the speech of the Prime Minister during Bihar campaign, said, “The situation that emerging during Parliamentary elections had helped ‘Modi magic’ create an impression among voters...But it is nowhere seen now when the situation has become normal...Bihar poll outcome has proved that Modi magic is not durable.”
In a veiled attack on party chief Amit Shah, Singh said “drunk in power” the top party leadership was always seen “surrounded by sycophants.”
He agreed with Sinha’s comment that “Taali Kaptan ko to Gaali bhi Kaptan ko (if kudos to captain over victory the blame should also go to the captain)”. “leadership should be one in which everybody has ‘astha’ (faith) which is lacking at present,” said Singh, in whose constituency the BJP lost all 7 the Assembly seats.
Asked if Shah was responsible for the loss, Singh said, “Why not. If you take claim for win and you become President on that basis, then will Advani be blamed for defeatIJ”
Union Minister and former party chief Nitin Gadkari had this week sought action against those airing their dissenting views in public as along with him three former party presidents insisted that “collective responsibility” has been a tradition in the party and dismissed the demand for fixing “responsibility” for the poor showing in the poll.