by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Modi invoked new rule to keep “Family” out
No two tickets in one family
Birender Singh, Jagdish Mukhi, Sinha upset
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, April 9
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not only strictly implemented the rule that no leader above the age of 75 years be given the Lok Sabha but also invoked a new “No Family Promotion” clause as well.
If 16 senior party leaders including L K Advani, M M Joshi, Sumitra Mahajan, Kariya Munda and others were denied tickets, no new family member or two members of the same family will be given the tickets.
Many senior party leaders have become victims of Modi's this new rule too. Modi had made it clear to even BJP's Gandhis - Maneka and Varun- that only one of them will get the ticket and the other family member should work for the party. Both are sitting MP s of the Lok Sabha and Maneka Gandhi is is a Minister in the Modi government. It transpires that party president Amit Shah and Surface Transport & Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari pleaded that exception should be made in her case. It was also pointed out that Anurag Thakur and Dushyant Singh have been given tickets while Vansundhararaje scindia is sitting MLA. The rule may be made applicable in new cases. Modi made it clear no new family kith & kin will get the ticket if father or mother is active in politics. It was due to this very rule that Assam Governor Jadgish Mukhi had to eat the humble pie. Jagdish Mukhi, a senior Delhi BJP leader wanted Lok Sabha ticket for his son to be given a Lok Sabha from Delhi. But he was told that he would have to quit the post and declare political retirement. Similarly, Minister for Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh is hugely disappointed that his son was refused entry into the electoral arena. His son Birjender Singh is an IAS officer and wants to join the BJP to fight from Rohtak or Hisar. But the BJP was not in a mood to allow senior leader Birender Singh to quit to make room for his son when he is still 73 years. Even his wife is an MLA from Haryana. Therefore, he should wait for sometime. Modi's new policy that no two persons will be given ticket made several others unhappy. R K Sinha, a sitting BJP MP of the Rajya Sabha and close confidante of PM Modi wanted his son Rituraj Sinha to be fielded from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat. The seat had fallen vacant after Shatrughan Sinha became a rebel and denied the ticket. When Sinha met senior BJP leaders and tried to convince them that Rituraj will win the seat due to various factor, he was told that “family rule clause” is preventing the ticket to his son. Sensing the PM's tough stand, the leaders from states revised their proposals and withdrew all proposals to give tickets to kith & kin.
Ends
