Sushil Modi

New Delhi, June 8: Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi survived an unparalleled trial of strength at the BJP headquarters here today, but the outcome of the “secret ballot” left the rebels numb with “disbelief”.

A statement released by the party a few hours after the vote said it had been “decided” there “shall be no change in the leadership” and Modi would “continue as leader of the legislature party”.

Outside the party office, the dissidents fumed. “We won’t accept the outcome,” said a rebel, while another warned that the party would “suffer” in the coming general elections.

The party statement claimed the decision to carry on with Modi was taken after central observers Sushma Swaraj and M. Venkaiah Naidu discussed the outcome of the vote with Lal Krishna Advani and Rajnath Singh.

Surprisingly, the statement had no mention of the “secret” ballot and, instead, said Sushma and Naidu took the opinion of the legislators.

The rebels had claimed they had the support of 35 of the 55 MLAs and nine of the 14 legislative council members.

Modi, too, had told the central leadership that a majority of the legislators backed him in the stand-off that followed last month’s cabinet revamp. Some BJP ministers were dropped in the shuffle.

After his victory, the deputy chief minister, whose party shares power with the Janata Dal (United) in Bihar, told PTI the outcome was a “verdict” against forces inimical to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

Unconfirmed reports later said the vote was 35-32 in Modi’s favour, while two abstained.

For most of the day, the party headquarters, usually always accessible, resembled a virtual fortress. No one, except the legislators from Bihar, was being allowed inside. The hundreds of reporters and photographers who had gathered outside sweated on the busy road.

The bite brigade mobbed legislators coming out after casting their vote, only to be told that “secret voting” was on.

The legislators, however, revealed what the high command had asked them. The question was: “Do you want a change in the present leadership?”

While the rebels kept insisting they had the numbers to oust Modi, the loyalists said they were confident of scraping through.

In fact, a ripple of joy swept through the supporters of the rebel leaders when information about the “secret ballot” trickled in.

But exhilaration soon turned to disbelief and then anger.

“We can’t believe that. Has the counting been done? Have they announced the result,” said a rebel leader, when asked for his reaction about half an hour before the result was formally declared.

“We won’t accept this outcome,” he fumed, but refused to say anything on record.

Another rebel legislator said the high command’s desperate bid to buy peace would not unite the warring factions in the state. “This is not the solution. The party will suffer in the next general elections,” he said.

The leader also wondered if the rebels had made a strategic mistake by agreeing to go for “secret voting”.

“This is the first time in its history that the BJP has gone for a secret ballot to arrive at an internal decision,” a senior party leader told PTI.