Rajnath takes a stand: BJP's internal feud or the usual grind of politics?

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday made it clear that he would not stand any charges of impropriety against him or his family. This came at a time when rumour mills were allegedly doing the rounds that the minister’s son Pankaj Singh was ticked off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for improper behaviour. “In the last 15-20 days, there have been continuous rumours in the air about me and my family. I thought rumours have no basis and these will end in some days. But I am seeing that these rumours are gaining momentum day-by-day. I want to assure the nation that the day allegations, even prima facie or even small, are proven against me or my family, I will quit politics and public life and sit at home….I have told this to the prime minister and party president Amit Shah when we were sitting together. They have expressed surprise over this and termed it as completely baseless,” Rajnath Singh said in a hurriedly called interaction with journalists outside North Block on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_1685507” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. PTI[/caption] Rumours are flying thick and fast that Pankaj was denied a BJP ticket for the Assembly bypoll from Noida as he had allegedly auctioned off appointments. These rumours have hurt Rajnath where it could hurt him most – questioning his integrity, tarnishing his image and putting his son’s budding political career in jeopardy. Coupled with that was the story that the home minister’s role had effectively been curtailed in the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet. As soon as Rajnath came out with his views before the media, a statement from the PMO quickly followed backing the home minister. It said: “This has reference to reports appearing in a section of the media over the past several weeks, mentioning the Prime Minister, and referring to the conduct of some Union Ministers, and alleged misconduct of the Home Minister`s son. “The reports are plain lies, motivated and constitute a malicious attempt at character assassination and tarnishing the image of the Government. “Those indulging in such rumour-mongering are damaging the interest of the nation. “These reports are strongly denied.” Two hours later, BJP chief Amit Shah also released a statement in support of Rajnath. Although both the government and the party came out fast to support Rajnath, the moment he went public expressing his views it became apparent that all was not well among the top echelons of the BJP. “This is an intra-party feud within the BJP. Even though they won the Lok Sabha poll thumbs down, the old animosity persists within the BJP. Many of them don’t like each other and many of them don’t like Modi. Rajnath’s differences with Modi is very well known. It is quite clear that Rajnath leaked the story so that this rumour mongering could be stopped. It forced the government and the party into action although these rumours were going on for the last two weeks,” Outlook, editorial chairman, Vinod Mehta told CNN-IBN during a debate. The BJP immediately rejected the idea there were any differences within the party leadership. “Rajnath Singh has an impeccable record. In all politics all sorts of innuendos are floated and the media believed the rumours. In fact, that’s what Modi and Shah suggested in their respective statements. Rajnath Singh came out and spoke today as he felt that it was time to stop all that. There is nothing existing in the name of facts and so Rajnath Singh took the extreme step of speaking to the media. No one in the BJP started these rumours certainly,” said BJP spokesperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam. She also denied that it has to do with the denial of ticket to Rajnath’s son Pankaj. “Politics is an up and down game. His son not getting the Noida ticket is no reason to sulk. I must also remind you that Rajnath Singh was party president when Narendra Modi was announced as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. Rajnath completely backed Modi,” Kumaramangalam said. The BJP spokesperson also said that if the home minister might have approached the RSS on the matter it is not a big deal as many leaders consult with the parent organisation on many matters. Senior journalist Nalini Singh felt that it is absolutely essential to get to the root of the matter. “This is the third story in four weeks on Rajnath Singh. So Modi will have to see who the conspirator is – an insider or an outsider? Who leaked them to the press is an administrative manner. He must get this investigated and must get to the bottom. As my sources tell me, Pankaj Singh has not met the prime minister after the poll results,” Nalini said. Congress leader Rashmi Kant also sought the truth of the whole episode. “This is not an attack on Modi at all as has been perceived by many. What we know from media reports is that Modi has pulled up Rajnath and his son for misdemeanours. The government has the entire intelligence machinery with itself to check who leaked the story. They must come out with a story,” Kant said. Mehta believed that Modi may be keen to see that the home minister may be reduced to a rubber stamp but Nalini disagreed with him. “The prime minister is not a kind of a man who is going to demollsih his own home minister,” she said. Kant was fast to add, “It would be too risky to play with Rajnath Singh openly.”