New Delhi: BJP on Monday sought to distance itself from the comments made by Sudheendra Kulkarni, a key aide of senior party leader LK Advani on "disarray" in party leadership, and termed it as his "personal opinion".
BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "I would not like to comment on the article. He has a right to air his opinion."
Kulkarni had made comments in an article in Tehelka magazine about "disarray" at party leadership during the election campaign, the adverse impact of Varun Gandhi's hate speech and the party and the Sangh Parivar appearing weak, helpless and not fully in command.
"Never in the history of the Jana Sangh or the BJP was the party enfeebled by so much disarray at the top. The disorder at the centre and also in several states like Rajasthan, UP and Delhi demoralised the disunited party workers down the line with disastrous results," Kulakrni has written in the magazine.
Kulkarni also had said cropping up of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's name as next-in line to L K Advani for the prime minister's post, in the middle of the campaign did not help at all.
In the magazine Kulkarni said, the BJP needed to rethink its approach to Muslims, Hindutva, the poor, the RSS and itself.
"It is also true that Advani himself failed to assert his leadership at crucial points before and during the campaign," Kulkarni added.
Another party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said he had not read the article and so could not give his opinion on the issue. "I will be able to speak on the issue only after I have gone through the article."
"It would have been better if we would have discussed the issues in the meeting not in media. After every defeat questions are raised over relations with RSS. Nobody wants to look inside. Advani has already shared his opinion with us. Everybody can express his opinion. Sudhhendra Kulkarni had written a similar article in 2005" — RSS Spokesperson Ram Madhav to CNN-IBN
Other senior party leaders also evaded response to Kulkarni's scathing comments on the reasons for BJP's poll debacle.
"The views expressed by LK Advani's close aide, Sudheendra Kulkarni in Tehelka magazine about "disarray" in the party leadership is his personal opinion" — Deputy Leader of Opposition, Sushma Swaraj to CNN-IBN
Comments
0 comment