UP Polls: BJP divided over induction of Babu Singh Kushwaha into the party

NEW DELHI: With NRHM scam-tainted Babu Singh Kushwaha's induction into BJP virtually announcing that the party was short on probity and integrity, a finger pointing has begun in the party over the decision.

A section of BJP leaders, including LK Advani, who acknowledged that the decision to accommodate Kushwaha could dent the momentum for the party's anti-corruption campaign, said short-term calculations of the leadership was responsible for the mess. Kushwaha's induction was cleared by party president Nitin Gadkari.

But Gadkari, who appears not quite keen on demanding any exacting ethical standards from his organisation, is sticking with the plans to use Kushwaha's services in Uttar Pradesh for wooing the Koeri voters. However, the plans may remain only on paper as Koeris are considered to be solidly behind Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati. Besides, Kushwaha never contested any election and his clout among the community members remains untested.

The outrage against BJP's decision saw the party fielding Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to say that the CBI was indulging in selective action. While claiming that it will not provide any tent to tainted politicians, it charged the Centre with calibrating the probe into corruption cases in UP. "We will not nominate Kushwaha to contest polls," Naqvi said. In any case, Kushwaha was not looking for a nomination, but merely wanted the patronage of a big party, he said.

BJP leaders, who are livid with the decision to accommodate Kushwaha, once a trusted aide of Mayawati, said the development could damage the party's prospects in UP, specially in the urban areas where the anger among people against corruption was more intense.

BJP has been displaying an itch to embrace the tainted in this poll season. Rajnath Singh's son was one of the recent visitors to the jailed BSP MP Dhananjay Singh. The jailed MP is seen to be having some clout to decide on the electoral outcome in Jaunpur.

In the calculations of the section within the party which had recommended taking Kushwaha, a NRHM-scam accused who was being shunned by BSP and SP, any action against the OBC leader would consolidate the votes of the backward classes for the party which accepted him. But, at the national level, Kushwaha has spelt disaster for BJP's anti-corruption campaign.