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N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras
The timing might not have been the right, or the circumstances either. Yet, Jana Krishnamurthy is the first Tamil president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. More importantly, he is also the first Tamil to lead a ruling party at the Centre after the late K Kamaraj, who led the Indian National Congress in the crucial years after the 'Chinese aggression' when Jawaharlal Nehru had taken a beating, and the 'gentle colossus' of Indian politics needed a political prop of sorts.
In comparison, Jana Krishnamurthy's leader, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, does not exactly need any prop-up at the moment. But the fact remains, the BJP leadership needs a new image, that too in the light of the 'Bofors-equivalent' of a scam rocking the party at the very top, and sending negative signals about the Vajpayee-led NDA government at the Centre.
The fact remains, Jana Krishnamurthy has stepped in only as the acting president of the BJP. It remains to be seen if the party ultimately formalises his nomination, or goes in for another president in his place. Jana Krishnamurthy's name had topped the list of probables for the top job of the ruling party for months, before settling on Bangaru Laxman.
Today, by referring to his Dalit background as the cause for the current expose against him, Bangaru Laxman may have equated himself with another Andhraite, Mohammed Azharuddin. For, it was the former cricket skipper who said he was being targeted in the match-fixing scam because he was a Muslim.
To an extent, the BJP may find that the scam-game may have come full circle, beginning with the 'Jain hawala case', in which the then party president L K Advani, was the target. However, as Advani set a healthy precedent by stepping down as party president, and anointing Vajpayee as the BJP's prime ministerial nominee, Laxman too has now stepped down -- if only grudgingly.
That way, Krishnamurthy's job-on-hand becomes all the more crucial for the BJP. On the one hand, he has to face off the image-problem, caused by the media expose on Bangaru Laxman. A lot of dirty linen would be washed in public. Given the fact that Fernandes is also the NDA convenor, Jana Krishnamurthy may have his hands full.
With the 'Bofors case' reportedly reaching a crucial stage, he as the president of a ruling party that has been caught in a 'Bofors-like scam' of its own, will have a lot of explaining to do, and a lot of image-building to work on. In a way, it should not surprise anyone, if at the end of it all, Krishnamurthy is forced to come out with his own kind of 'Kamaraj plan' to revitalise, if not revamp the party hierarchy.
Simultaneously, Jana Krishnamurthy may also be called upon to refurbish the public image of the BJP, not only as the 'clean party' of Indian politics, but also a minorities-friendly one, the slogan that Bangaru Laxman had given while taking over as party chief.
A 'team player' to the hilt, Jana Krishnamurthy has been associated with the RSS parent of the BJP for over 50 years. His father too was a staunch RSS loyalist of his times in native Madurai. And like Kamaraj, who was a bachelor, however, Krishnamurthy's low-profile family, to date has been living in rented accommodation, in Madras. With the BJP in Tamil Nadu facing a very crucial assembly polls in the company of the ruling DMK ally - that too with the rival AIADMK believed to be keeping its post-poll options on a national ally open -- the role of leaders like Jana Krishnamurthy could become all the more important.
A lot, however, will depend on the BJP's decision to opt for another south Indian in the place of Bangaru Laxman, or revert to the North, for choosing a permanent party president, what with assembly elections also falling due in the BJP-crucial State of Uttar Pradesh next year. Alternatively, the party, depending on the final damage caused by the current scam, and its own damage-control exercise, may be called upon to look around for a taller leader with a greater mass-appeal than Jana Krishnamurthy, who is basically an organisation man who feels more comfortable with a desk job or a cadres conference, than a public function where he is felicitated in some way or the other.
PTI adds: Senior BJP leader Jana Krishnamurthy will be the acting president of the party.
This was decided at an hour-long meeting of BJP's central office bearers in New Delhi on Wednesday after a detailed discussion on the resignation letter by Bangaru Laxman, party spokesman V K Malhotra said.
Laxman had offered to resign as party president in the wake of the expose by tehelka.com on defence deals.
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