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Rajnath Singh, Home Minister and Member of Parliament from Lucknow, a seat he inherited from the late Atal Behari Vajpayee, called up Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and sharply reprimanded him for the encounter killing of an Apple sales executive Ankit Tiwari by a trigger happy police 10 days ago.
This was perhaps the first time in the recent past that Singh spoke to Yogi and made his displeasure public since the duo of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah craftily positioned Adityanath (Ajay Singh Bhist) as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) new über Thakur leader.
The duo anointed Yogi Adityanath chief minister as the ultimate checkmate to Singh, who had earlier been Uttar Pradesh chief minister and was widely acknowledged as the BJP’s tallest Thakur leader. The ground has been slipping from under Singh’s feet for a while now.
And Singh has reason for his anguish. As BJP president, he officially threw his weight behind the 2014 projection of Modi for prime minister after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) gave its nod. Singh has made much of his loyalty to the Sangh – apart from his mannerisms and style of oratory, which are a copy of Vajpayee, he has cast himself in the Atal mould of politics.
Modi paid Singh back by casting him into the Margdarshak Mandal, the old age home of the BJP. The mandal has not even met once. It includes, apart from Singh, BJP founders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Singh has been known to lament that he made Modi the bridegroom and Modi cast him aside from the bridal party.
Singh was reduced to a cipher even as Home Minister, with all effective powers residing in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Unsavoury stories planted by his rivals of his son being a power broker did the rounds soon after the swearing-in. An angry Singh went public to deny the stories.
This is not new to Singh. During his first tenure as BJP president, a colleague of his, known as “bureau chief” among Singh’s generation of leaders, who has never won an election but has great traction among the media, got nasty stories planted against him. The journalist, who planted them, is now in the Rajya Sabha courtesy of Modi and “bureau chief”.
His nomination to the upper house upset Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, similarly sidelined. They have been at the receiving end of the “bureau chief’s” malicious plants. Singh kept quiet in public, but told journalists privately that he was shocked that a leader with a zero base could viciously attack colleagues like this.
In an interview with me earlier, when I asked him to comment, he said he would never publicly comment about colleagues as he believed in “maryada” (ethics). He carefully did not address the question whether his colleagues believed in ethics or not.
Singh, a teacher by profession, has been a life-long member of the RSS. But sources close to him refer to him as “mananiye” (respected) as he is addressed at home. Singh, however, has never quite got his due in the BJP despite hailing from the heartland state of Uttar Pradesh.
Singh has always carefully kept out of controversies, but have no doubt nursed prime ministerial ambitions for years now. That is what makes Modi and Shah wary. And, hence the Yogi Adityanath gamble in a bid to cut Singh down to size. And, a suitable hashtag trended by Modi’s IT cell @YogiRoxxs.
With the Rafale controversy singeing Modi and Adityanath proving to be a singular failure as an administrator, Singh is nursing fresh hope. In his quiet understated way, he is positioning himself as the anti-Modi and a possible replacement if the BJP fails to get less than 250 seats in the general elections.
Importantly, he will also be acceptable to the Sangh, where he is seen as one of their own, unlike Sushma Swaraj.
Singh is making smart moves. He was the first to speak up in the party on the troll attack on Swaraj led by BJP supporters. Singh has also taken a nuanced line on Kashmir. If not Modi, the choice will be between Singh and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, another Sangh favourite. And with the overdose of western India recently, both Modi and Shah are from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh might get a look in, says a senior Sangh leader.
Modi has already indicated that he wants to confine Singh to the old age home. And, if Modi comes back all the leaders he describes as “D4” (Delhi 4) will be banished to the mandal.
But Singh scents opportunity and hope. As he had told me earlier, his role model in politics is Vajpayee. That currently is a great legacy to inherit in the BJP.
Will Singh hit the jackpot? He is a great believer in astrology and has confided to confidantes that his trusted astrologer predicts great things.
Swati's book “I am a Troll - Inside the BJP’s secret digital army” has received international acclaim. Her twitter handle is @Bainjal.
