Kirit Somaiya’s refusal to accept committee post exposes more rifts in Maharashtra BJP

After the announcement on Tuesday, Somaiya wrote to the party leadership, maintaining that he did not want to be part of any committee

MUMBAI: Senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya’s open opposition to the party’s decision to appoint him as head of one of the coordination committees for the assembly elections has exposed the rift within the party. The former MP on Tuesday declared that he would not accept the post, as he had not been consulted beforehand about it. The party has now replaced Somaiya with Vishwas Pathak.

“The appointment was done without taking me into confidence,” said Somaiya.

After the announcement on Tuesday, Somaiya wrote to the party leadership, maintaining that he did not want to be part of any committee and was content being an “ordinary party worker from February 18, 2019”. That was the date on which Somaiya was asked by Fadnavis to leave a press conference on the insistence of the BJP’s then ally Uddhav Thackeray. The press conference was to announce that the BJP and Shiv Sena would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together.

“The appointment was done without taking me into confidence,” said Somaiya. “I have not defied the party order but expressed my dismay about the appointment. I will continue to work but there is no need for the post. This is not the time to constitute committees when the election work has already begun.” Somaiya added that the ordinary party worker was much more powerful than leaders like Fadnavis and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

Somaiya’s open dig at Fadnavis in the media is unprecedented in the party in the recent past. Party insiders say that more dissidents’ voices will be heard as the elections near.

“This is a rare incident of someone speaking against our leadership,” said a senior leader from the state BJP. “There are differences in the party—for instance, leaders like Pankaja Munde would often take a dig at the leadership. But this was done indirectly. Former BJP leader Eknath Khadse would speak openly against Fadnavis, but it resulted in him jumping ship and joining the NCP. Attacking the leadership or defying an order on a public platform is not part of the party culture.”

The BJP leader pointed to other rifts within the party. “A group of leaders from Fadnavis camp had, in the internal meetings before the Lok Sabha elections, criticised the central leadership’s decision to renominate some of the sitting MPs,” he said. “The state leadership had recommended that some of them be replaced and had also demanded an early announcement of candidates. The factionalism came to the fore after the Lok Sabha election results, as the loyalist BJP leaders who were to be sidelined had complained to the central leadership. They had told the leadership that the leaders who came from other parties were getting more importance.”

Another leader from the state BJP said that this resulted in the central leadership taking a decision to fight the assembly polls under a collective leadership. “Perhaps this has given the hardcore and loyalist party leaders the strength to speak up openly,” he said.

When questioned on Somaiya’s stand, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that seeking permission from a leader before appointing them to a post did not happen in the BJP. “Leaders are told after their appointment,” he said. “This happened in my case too when I was appointed the state unit chief.”