Modi sends sangathan Joshi packing
By - Deepal Trevedie

Sanjay ‘ascends’ as national secretary
RSS becomes faceless in state BJP

In a smooth sugar-coated stroke, chief minister Narendra Modi did away with a Major impediment in his hyped "appnu Gujarat aagvu Gujarat" dream by shunting burgeoning rival, the state BJP general secretary Sanjay Joshi, out of Gujarat. Mr. Joshi has been moved to Delhi here he will be the national BJP secretary.

In his characteristic style, while preying Sanjay Joshi, Machiavellian Modi has ensured that his budding rival is just cozened out of Gujarat for a "better and more responsible assignment." Differences between chief minister Modi and BJP general secretary Sanjay Joshi had been widening spectacularly after the second round of Cabinet expansion earlier this month.

Mr. Modi has felt that he had not been able to constitute his dream Cabinet because of immense pressure from Sanjay Joshi. Also, of late, Joshi was believed to be acting as a go-getter between the Modi group and the Keshubhai Patel group. He had donned the responsibility of "striking a balance" between the two groups.

Sanjay Joshi had insisted on the inclusion of at least four ministers in the Modi cabinet including Bavku Ughad and lshvar Makwana stressing that the party organisation should be given adequate importance in matters pertaining to governance also.

While Sanjay Joshi had felt that these were "practical suggestions," chief minister Modi had felt that such suggestions marred the image he was trying hard to create for himself and his govemment.

Modi is believed to have been "utterly displeased" at the "constant nick picking" by Sanjay Joshi. Mr. Modi, who is a man in a hurry, had felt that he was being made to bow down to ceaseless sangathan demands because of Joshi who was playing a very active role. Mr. Joshi was backed by the Gujarat RSS.

Mr. Modi used his excellent contacts in Delhi to ensure an exit, albeit a smooth one for Sanjay Joshi. Joshi loyalists are trying hard to reason out that this is a major promotion for their leader. Mr. Joshi, who was the state general secretary, has been elevated as national BJP secretary. The BJP central office at Delhi, in a statement, said that Mr. Joshi would now be the general secretary of the party.

This can also be viewed as a major leap for Sanjay Joshi who like Narendra Modi is a full time pracharak. Other similarity between them is the fact that in 1995, Narendra Modi who was then the state BJP secretary had been shunted out of Gujarat in a similar manner after the now infamous Shankarsinh Vaghela rebellion. Modi had been bamboozled to Delhi in a similar fashion.

Interestingly, this leaves Ahmedabad without any sangathan man. The Ahmedabad district secretary Tushar Deshmukh died recently and now the state secretary Sanjay Joshi has also been moved out. At Delhi, Mansukh Vasawa, an MP from South Gujarat, has been made the national secretary. This is primarily to give a tribal face to the party Organisation.

Republished from The Asian Age