Click to play videoThe BJP has asked senior leader Arun Shourie for an explanation on his comments against party President Rajnath Singh, but like in the case of former party leader Jaswant Singh, there has been no showcause notice issued against Shourie and certainly no expulsion. The question that was being asked on Talking Point was: Is BJP guilty of double standards? BJP leader Chandan Mitra joined CNN-IBN to try and answer the question.
CNN-IBN: What is the big lesson from the Arun Shourie episode? When you are a journalist who has turned politician, you can't afford to write or speak out or you are in big trouble?
Chandan Mitra: You have the right to write and speak out, but yes, when it comes to issues relating to the party, I think one has to be very very careful and what you say about the party should remain within the boundaries of the party's discipline. But judging by the kind of interview Arun Shourie gave, he was so frustrated and so angry that he said things knowing full well the kind of risk he was running. And being a journalist and very good with words he used very colourful phrases and sounded very interesting but it was certainly breaching the line of party discipline.
CNN-IBN: You are calling him frustrated and saying he has breached the party line but explain the contradiction here. Last week Jaswant Singh was expelled without a showcause notice, without any preamble on the basis of a book that everyone understands was too big a book to have finished reading in the time he was expelled. This week Arun Shourie writes an article, speaks visibly to the press, lashes out at the top leadership of the BJP, yet there is no showcause notice, there is no expulsion order and he is merely asked to explain himself.
Chandan Mitra: Well this is the initial and first reaction. You must remember that in the case of Jaswant Singh, the entire Parliamentary Board of the BJP was present in Shimla when the decision to expel him was taken. The party also has to take decisions collectively and the correct procedure would be to serve a kind of a notice or ask for a clarification.
CNN-IBN: But that was not done with Jaswant Singh. What is the difference between Jaswant Singh and Arun Shourie? Arun Shourie has gone public and targetted the entire BJP leadership and yet the party doesn't even issue a showcause notice and is going for an explanation. Is the party afraid that Arun Shourie is a loose canon who could target several of its leaders?
Chandan Mitra: No I don't think that is at all the case. In that case even Jaswant Singh has spoken a lot after his expulsion. People who have held senior positions in the party and the previous NDA government obviously have things to talk about. I think it is a bit unfortunate if they start these kiss-and-tell stories especially when it is very difficult for the party to react and turn around and use the same kind of language against these leaders. I don't think it is a question of being afraid but I do feel that there was perhaps a very strong, adverse reaction to the summary expulsion of Jaswant Singh - and this I am not saying as the BJP Spokesperson. Many people felt that it was a little too harsh
CNN-IBN: So is that a big learning that the BJP would like to go through a procedure now - that Arun Shourie will have to go eventually for his remarks but it will be done through a procedure?
Chandan Mitra: Well, I think a procedure should be followed at all times if you ask me, and it's only in extreme cases that the procedure can be disbanded and the party can decide to summarily expel someone. It is best to follow the procedure, even though Arun Shourie's comments would be very, very hurtful to a lot of people including the entire present leadership of the BJP. I think it is nevertheless in the proper democratic spirit to give everyone a chance to defend themselves. And let us see what Arun Shourie comes up with by way of defence. I really don't see what he can clarify because what he has said is so graphic and so colourful that it is very difficult to clarify any of those remarks. Also, he had written much the same thing in his letter which he wrote to the party just after the election defeat.
CNN-IBN: The question that keeps popping up now is why is L K Advani silent through all this? Two leaders have left BJP in the last week, a third is on the brink of expulsion, there may be a confrontation with another senior leader Vasundhara Raje and yet no word from L K Advani.
Chandan Mitra: Mr Advani is very deeply pained by what is going on. I had the opportunity to speak to him a couple of days ago and he is very pained and very concerned about the way the boundaries of displine are being violated and people are being seen to be in open confrontation - something which was never the case with the BJP before this. And therefore I think that because of this sheer pain and discomfort with what is going on, he has been silent. But let me tell you that within party forums he has taken positions and he has spoken out his mind. He is just not going public.
CNN-IBN: But the feeling is that because he is silent, he is not really exercising his moral authority or that his moral authority has been eroded. Jaswant Singh says L K Advani has not even paid him the courtesy of a phone call and on Arun Shourie we haven't heard a word from L K Advani. Has the authority of L K Advani been reduced considerably by what has happened last week?
Chandan Mitra: No I don't think so. I think Mr Advani still remains the last word in the party. But he has always deferred to the consensus opinion. He has never imposed his opinion on the party if he finds that the entire party leadership is moving in one particular way. I can tell you that on the issue of Jaswant Singh, there was such complete unanimity in the Central Parliamentary Board of the party that really there was no scope for any position being taken either by Mr Advani or by anyone else. And in the case of Arun Shourie, I think the idea was the crisis after crisis and expulsion after expulsion is bad. Let the matters cool down a bit and maybe Arun Shourie will also think things through a little more.
CNN-IBN: Are you still holding out hope for Arun Shourie or in your view - given what he said - he must go.
Chandan Mitra: My personal view doesn't matter. The phrases that he used were very hurtful to the party but nevertheless, as I said, everybody has to be given an opportunity to explain. Jaswant Singh's summary expulsion I would regard as an aberration, but I am glad that the same method is not being followed in each and every case. We should follow the procedure and give everybody a chance.
CNN-IBN: You are calling it an aberration - do you think Jaswant Singh should not have been expelled?
Chandan Mitra: No I didn't say that but you see in that situation - the book having been released just on the eve of the party's chintan baithak (brainstorming session) - I think the party would have been in great difficulty at that point in time to explain why it hasn't acted against Jaswant Singh. And he wasn't invited to the chintan baithak as well. It was a very, very embarrassing situation and I suppose it was to salvage the chintain baithak that the party decided to act quickly and put this issue outside.
CNN-IBN: Well, it seems journalists-turned-politicians are becoming endangered species - first Sudheendra Kulkarni and now Arun Shourie.
Chandan Mitra: I hope you are not calling me an endangered species.
CNN-IBN: We sure hope not Dr Mitra. Appreciate you joining us on CNN-IBN.
Chandan Mitra: Thank you.
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