Miffed Jakhar in “radio silence” mode puts BJP in an embarrassing situation over his resignation controversy
Listen to this articleMiffed Jakhar in “radio silence” mode puts BJP in an embarrassing situation over his resignation controversy
Umesh Dewan
Chandigarh, September 28
With Punjab BJP President Sunil Jakhar observing a “complete radio silence” over the issue of his resignation, the BJP seems to have landed in an “embarrassing” situation. While the saffron party leaders have denied the media reports that Jakhar had tendered his resignation, the whole issue has turned into a “fiasco”, as Jakhar himself has gone incommunicado and has so far not denied the media reports of him resigning from the post of Punjab BJP chief.
It is an “open secret” that Jakhar has been skipping all state-level BJP meetings for past almost two months, since there has been internal discord within Punjab BJP vis-à-vis Jakhar at the helm of the party’s state affairs and his open differences with many Punjab BJP leaders who were not willing to accept his leadership.
“Apart from the internal rift between the party and many BJP leaders busy pulling his leg, Jakhar is also extremely perturbed with the fact that Ravneet Singh Bittu, who lost the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat to PPCC President Raja Warring, was inducted into Union Cabinet but he was completely ignored despite his seniority and stature,” said a BJP leader close to Jakhar.
However, it is a fact that Jakhar had long before conveyed to the party’s central leadership that he is not interested in continuing as the State Unit chief post-Lok Sabha elections. Still, the interesting thing is that the “controversy” over his resignation has cropped up at a time when Panchayat elections are scheduled from October 15.
Meanwhile, all said and done, the larger question at this moment is that while the Punjab BJP general secretary Anil Sarin rubbished the reports of Jakhar’s resignation as completely baseless, false, and a conspiracy hatched by the opposition to weaken the BJP, the fact remains that ‘why is Jakhar himself not “denying” the same’. All attempts to contact Jakhar proved futile.
Interestingly, the whole controversy has given enough ammunition to the Congress to target Jakhar. Ever since, Jakhar had switched over from Congress to BJP, the leaders of the Grand Old Party (GOP) have been missing no opportunity to take potshots on Jakhar.
Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa has said that Jakhar’s resignation hardly matters as his “political innings” was over long back. Launching a scathing attack on Jakhar, PPCC Chief and Ludhiana MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring tweeted that it seems Jakhar had stopped focusing on issues concerning Punjab. “Instead of raising unnecessary issues during press conferences, take meaningful action, Jakhar Ji”, he added.
Meanwhile, by issuing the statement denying that Jakhar has resigned, BJP has tried to do the damage control but political observers feel that unless and until Jakhar himself comes out in the open and clarifies his resignation issue, the situation will not improve for the saffron party, which so far has failed to make any major electoral headway in Punjab after its alliance broke away with Akali Dal.
(Umesh Dewan is a senior Punjab-based Journalist.)
