In the ongoing exercise of Narendra Modi filling the supreme leader’s slot in the BJP, the balance of power is undoubtedly being struck by the diminutive Sushma Swaraj.
Unlike Jaswant Singh and even LK Advani, whose frequent efforts to assert their diminishing power have become easier to brush aside, Swaraj’s positioning is more nuanced and decidedly better articulated.
Sample her latest salvo at Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh. Digvijaya had, in an obvious attempt to deepen fissures in the BJP, described Swaraj as a better prime ministerial candidate than Modi.
“Even those who do not support the BJP would have accepted, just as they did in Atal Behari Vajpayee’s case, the personality of Sushma Swaraj rather than the imposing persona of Narendra Modi,” he said in Bhopal on Monday.
Early on Tuesday, Swaraj was back with her repartee: “Even I think Digvijaya Singhji is a better candidate than Rahul Gandhi.” She did not disagree with the Congress leader, only countered his hypothesis with one of her own.
Lonely battle It is clear that Swaraj is fighting a lonely battle. The triumvirate of Modi, party President Rajnath Singh and senior leader Arun Jaitley has by and large ignored her suggestions, both on selection of candidates and the election campaign. But she has managed to emerge as an alternative power centre where voices of dissent are getting concentrated.
So, although the party ignored her publicly voiced objection to the inclusion of Karnataka mining accused B Sriramulu, Swaraj managed to extricate herself from the sordid affair.
He had resigned from the BJP in 2011 following charges of illegally acquiring land.
However, the BJP brought him back and fielded him as the party candidate from Bellary, a constituency where Swaraj had fought a memorable electoral battle against Congress President Sonia Gandhi in 1999.
But this was not before she registered her protest, publicly, through her Twitter handle.
Voice of dissent With regard to the denial of ticket to veteran leader Jaswant Singh, Swaraj emerged as the only voice of resistance.
She distanced herself from the decision and expressed her anguish. “This is not a routine decision, nor was it taken by the Central Election Committee. Such extraordinary decisions are not taken without any reason.
“There must be some logic. But personally, I have felt very bad,” she said. Backed by Advani, Swaraj has emerged as the alternative power centre in the central BJP, while others have submitted to Modi’s authority.
It is even more credible and courageous given the manner in voices of dissent — Keshubhai Patel, Suresh Mehta, Haren Pandya, Harin Pathak, Vallabhai Kathiria, the late Kanshiram Rana, Sanjay Joshi, Govardhan Zadaphia et al — have been crushed over the past decade in Gujarat.