Bihar debacle: BJP in damage-control mode after salvo by veterans

NEW DELHI: Even as BJP veterans LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Yashwant Sinha have adopted a waitand-watch attitude towards their party on the demand for fixing responsibility for the dismal performance in Bihar elections, central office-bearers have got into damage-control mode and are making efforts to prevent more dissenting voices from surfacing in the coming days.

Among the veterans, Shanta Kumar has indicated he is satisfied with the response from three former party chiefs Rajnath Singh, M Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari, the other three veterans do not appear to be in a mood to relent. They are likely to rake up the issue again if there is no further action on their demand.

The central office-bearers have been informally told not to react to either the charges made by the party veterans or BJP MPs from Bihar like Bhola Singh, RK Singh and CP Thakur. “Some of the senior party leaders were of the view that the party should react but it was then decided that any reaction at this juncture will only further embarrass the party. So the officebearers have decided not to react,” a senior central office bearer told ET.

These leaders have also got in touch with the disgruntled elements within the party and tried to reason with them that going public with their views will harm the party.