The question is when and in what circumstances the party will ask him to step down? In a highly fluid and dynamic political environment, where the BJP was making political capital out of the coal-gate scandal, the scene has changed drastically as the party’s own chief is being targeted over ghost companies and architecting a fictitious enterprise. With nothing pure about Purti, Gadkari has been tainted.

While S. Gurumurthy has given him a clean chit, saying “there is no legal or moral wrongdoing”, the reality is that his second term has been put in jeopardy. His personal and equity and credibility have been damaged beyond repair. Not only that the Congress holding the whip all over again, a fractious BJP is seething at the dramatic turn of events. Robert Vadra is suddenly relegated to background and replaced by Gadkari and his tomfoolery.

Trouble has been brewing for quite sometime in the BJP over Gadkari’s style of functioning—his long absence during coal-gate scandal, away as he was on a family vacation, and the fact that he was not operating out of Delhi and the party headquarters proving to be major negatives.

Two senior leaders Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh—neutralised to a great extent by Gadkari, but important nevertheless—were seen waging a quiet campaign against the party chief. They reached L K Advani with a petition, the storm built up. As allegation after allegation was leveled against Purti and by insulation against Gadkari, the party President was caught in a maelstrom.

Advani, backed by Yashwant and Jaswant, are of the view that the party should not put off a decision on Gadkari’s fate. At the same time, the party doesn’t want to knock him over because then it will be seen as a big victory for the Congress and an acceptance that Gadkari was not clean.

Finally, sources in the BJP say, that Gadkari will announce immediately after Diwali that he is not seeking a second term and this will pave the way for his graceful exit. Sometime in late December-January, the BJP will decide on its next President.

The RSS is unhappy but it is left with no choice. The Sangh had plumped for a Gadkari and the unexpected developments are a cause of concern since they have technically scalped their candidate.

As far alternatives, Narendra Modi, if he wins in Gujarat, will be potentially a game changer and the duo of father and son—Ram and Mahesh Jethmalani—appear to be plumping for him. But this is a subject to Modi winning Gujarat. The other potential candidates are Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh. BJP’s strategist Arun Jaitely would also like to believe that he has a shot at the top job.

In the eventuality that there is no consensus, the party may go back to Advani, but this scenario appear remote. Sushma and Rajnath Singh may be the favourites to become the next party boss. Shanta Kumar’s name too is doing the grounds.

It is ironic that a fragmented BJP has once again shot itself in the foot at a time when the Congress is faltering. The BJP has thrown a lifeline to the embattled Congress. Now if the Congress wins in Himachal Pradesh, it will be further emboldened attack on the BJP aggressively.

By forcing Gadkari to quit, the BJP would want to show that it has acted against taint at the cost of infuriating the Sangh. More importantly, by appointing Sushma or Rajnath, it will send a message that it is in control of the party and not the Sangh. The BJP will, indeed, be better off by asking Gadkari to quit, since it should practice the same moral standards that it calls for others. The man to replace Gadkari ought to be an inspirational one with sound political instinct, who can pull together various factions in the party.

Gadkari has come under a cloud, as the end of his first term nears an end. He hasn’t betrayed much of political instinct helming the party, and he has endangered his party’s anti-corruption plank by himself coming under the scanner for corruption. His company Purti Power and Sugar Ltd is under probe by tax agencies for its links with shell companies run from fake addresses. (IPA Service)