Naqvi-Shahnawaz Vs Maneka in latest mud-slinging match

NEW DELHI: An ugly free-for-all involving former Union minister Maneka Gandhi and the BJP���s two most prominent Muslim faces - Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Syed Shahnawaz Hussain - marred the proceedings of second and concluding day of the party���s national executive.

The fracas among the three leaders, all of whom are former Union ministers, took place during the free-wheeling session allowing members to place their views on the BJP���s performance in the Lok Sabha polls.

Mr Hussain, who was permitted by party president Rajnath Singh to speak, started by emphasising the need to reach out to the minorities. He proceeded to observe that there were some leaders who feel that their services were not needed by the party. He was alluding to Ms Gandhi���s remarks made on Saturday night, in which she had sought his ouster from the party for ``leaking������ stories through the media.

No sooner had he had said that Ms Gandhi interjected. ``You people have been planting stories in the media, blaming my son Varun for the party���s defeat. This is not true. It is the BJP which has defeated itself,������ she retorted.

Mr Naqvi joined in at this juncture. ``Why is she speaking now when she has already availed of her opportunity? Have we reached such a situation that we can���t even use the party forum to air our views? It is, in fact, Ms Gandhi who has been planting stories against senior leaders,������ he said.

The entire episode, according to party insiders, continued for some three-four minutes, and was seen by many as a direct fall-out of the deliberations held on Friday among the party���s officebearers and central leaders. Both Mr Naqvi and Mr Hussain had used the occasion to pin the blame for the BJP���s defeat in the Lok Sabha polls squarely on Varun Gandhi���s Pilibhit hate-speech.

Sensing the matter would spin out of control, Mr Singh, who was chairing the session, asked Ms Gandhi to refrain from speaking out-of-turn.

Mr Hussain continued with his speech, endorsing the BJP president���s assessment that there was a need to articulate Hindutva in a contemporary idiom to make it more appealing to the people.