Shekhawat: Causing panic

New Delhi, Jan. 7: After the challenge, “bath-in-the-well” panic.

BJP chief Rajnath Singh today rejected the idea of former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat contesting the Lok Sabha polls, but party circles said his impulsive rebuff was a clear sign of the unease among top leaders.

“Bhairon Singh Shekhawat has held a constitutional post as Vice-President of India,” Rajnath told reporters.

“There is no tradition of these high constitutional functionaries contesting election. Those who have taken a dip in the holy Ganges do not aspire to take a bath in the well.”

A section of party leaders said Rajnath should have been a little more tactful.

The rebuff came a day after Shekhawat declared he wanted to contest the Lok Sabha polls and that the issue of candidate for Prime Minister was still open. It appeared to be a challenge to L.K. Advani, already anointed shadow Prime Minister.

Rajnath’s comments drew a quick response from Shekhawat, who said he was not asking for a ticket from the BJP and asserted that he would fight the elections for a public cause. “The only thing I want to say is that I am on a mission against corruption…” PTI quoted the 85-year-old as saying.

If Shekhawat goes ahead and contests as an Independent or on any other party’s ticket, it would not only embarrass the BJP but also inflict significant electoral damage in Rajasthan, the veteran leader’s native state.

Many leaders believe behind-the-scenes persuasive skills should have been used to dissuade Shekhawat. “Rajnath does not have the stature to reject Shekhawat’s claim,” a BJP leader told The Telegraph. “The party should have pondered over the issue and Advaniji should have himself spoken to Shekhawat.”

Late in the evening, a PTI report said, Advani discussed the issue with senior leaders like Arun Jaitley and M. Venkaiah Naidu.

Some leaders — especially those who have been feeling slighted by the current leadership — are delighted. They refuse to accept that the Shekhawat controversy was just a bubble and argue that the veteran Rajput has support both within the BJP and outside.

A few of them, in fact, told journalists to play up the controversy, in a clear indication of the disunity in the BJP.

Several younger members of the party said some leaders who had grown old were unwittingly creating problems and cited, among others, the example of V.K. Malhotra. They said the party lost the Delhi polls primarily because of Malhotra’s insistence on becoming chief minister.

But others argued that this theory could not be stretched beyond a point. Advani, they pointed out, was past 80.