Bihar was a debacle. And BJP doesn't know who to blame

QUICK PILL

The aftermath

• The Bihar debacle has opened a can of worms within the BJP

• Several leaders, especially from Bihar, have spoken out against party president Amit Shah

The real salvo

• Veterans led by Advani, Joshi have called for fixing responsibility for the poll defeat

• Current brass have tried to downplay their statements, taking refuge behind \'collective responsibility\'

More in the story

• Will the noise makers gain ground within the party

• Is Amit Shah going to get a second term as party president

Even as observers are busy identifying the many fathers of the Grand Alliance's victory in Bihar polls, Bharatiya Janata Party is trying its best to leave its defeat an orphan.

Many BJP leaders are up in arms against the strategies that led to the spectacular debacle: they are calling for an assessment of the mistakes made and seeking action against those who made those mistakes.

However, those who call the shots in the new BJP do not want to go down that road.

The first salvo came from BJP veterans sidelined by the new dispensation under party president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Shanta Kumar and Yashwant Sinha released a statement on 11 November that essentially demanded that heads must roll.

According to s statement released by the quartet: "To say that everyone is responsible for the defeat in Bihar is to ensure that no one is responsible."

The statement was a response to attempts made earlier by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to introduce the "collective responsibility" track in an unfolding narrative. The veterans thwarted this maneuver emphatically, nailing "the way the party has been emasculated in the last year" as the biggest reason behind the defeat.

It is clear that the sidelined elders are hitting out at the Prime Minister and Shah, who have established their stronghold within the party in the last one year. The duo also led the Bihar campaign, with Modi as the star campaigner and Shah the chief strategist.

Encouraged by the statement, several other BJP leaders from Bihar also decided to speak their hearts out. These included national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain, parliamentarian and parliamentarians like former Union minister Hukmdev Narayan Yadav, former Bihar home minister Bhola Singh, former Union home secretary RK Singh and Shatrughan Sinha.

These were followed by MPs further down the power hierarchy, including Ashwini Choubey, Rama Devi, Hari Manjhi, Ajay Nishad, Nityanand Rai and Birendra Kumar. The voice behind BJP's campaign songs in Bihar, Manoj Tiwari - another parliamentarian, also spoke out and so did former RSS ideologue KN Govindacharya.

Top leaders in denial

The response of key figures in BJP's central leadership has been interesting. The duo at the centre of the storm, Modi and Shah, are yet to speak publicly about the defeat. Jaitley was the first one to give an interview, in which he introduced the "collective responsibility" idiom and defended the choice of the PM as the face of the campaign.

Modi and Amit Shah are yet to open talk about Bihar debacle. It's left to Arun Jaitley to defend them

He attributed the loss to a "huge index of opposition unity" and "some irresponsible statements" by "responsible politicians". Jaitley also observed in another interaction with the media that there would be no impact of the Bihar results on the image of Modi.

Jaitley has so far not commented on the veterans' statement but called upon Joshi at his residence on 13 November. Some of his colleagues, however, have not been equally kind to the veterans.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister and former party president Venkaiah Naidu told journalists that it would have been better if these issues were raised in a party forum rather than public. "Still we will take note of these views and concerns," he added.

Another former party president Nitin Gadkari was aggressive in his defence of Modi and Shah: The two couldn't be held responsible as the BJP is a cadre-based, not a family-ruled one, he said. The Union transport minister demanded "stringent" action against "those making irresponsible statements and causing damage to the party's image."

Reminding Advani that the party lost elections under his leadership, too, in the past, Gadkari asserted that "elections are fought as a party and nobody should be singled out for the defeat."

The third party president to join ranks with them was Rajnath Singh. He was a co-signatory to a statement issued by the three leaders to counter the veterans, saying former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani had set the precedent of the party collectively taking responsibility for victories and defeats.

Rajnath, however, was later learnt to have made a significant intervention in the controversy, rejecting Gadkari's demand of action against the seniors. He reportedly said the veterans' view should be heeded to and their guidance respected.

The dilemma

Bhola Singh reached very close to demanding resignations of Modi and Shah. While the PM's resignation can definitely be ruled out for the moment, Shah's position does seem to be under threat. After Delhi, Bihar was the second successive defeat under his leadership.

His current tenure ends in January 2016 and nobody knows for sure whether he will get another term. Party rivals, including some in the Union Cabinet, are believed to cosying up to the RSS to grab the top job. However, the clear advantage with Shah is that he is close to Modi, who in turn is indispensable for the party at the moment.

Amit Shah's tenure ends in January. Many BJP leaders are cosying up to the RSS to get the top job

Also, many more crucial elections are lined up in the next two years - including in Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The party is yet to decide whether a change in leadership right at the top will be beneficial for its prospects in these elections or not.