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Young Turks want more space in BJP

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

A quiet albeit intense campaign has begun in the Bharatiya Janata Party with the 'Young Turks' trying to break away from the hold of the old guard and get themselves into positions of power.

Though most of the activity is still restricted to leaders meeting in small groups, the rumblings have reached the ears of party seniors.

''Yes, it is true that the younger lot of the leaders in our party are impatient to get into the thick of party affairs. Regrettably, some of them are branding the old guard as deadwood. This is shocking...they should not sacrifice their perspective at the altar of ambition," said a party veteran requesting anonymity.

He indicated that the race for recognition among the second-generation party leaders began in right earnest after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's last cabinet reshuffle. The omission of some ministerial aspirants, notably those who had already enjoyed positions of power, was when some leaders first raised the banner of revolt.

Central party spokesman M Venkaiah Naidu, however, did not agree that there was any tug-of-war on between the old guard and the Young Turks. "There are veterans like Vajpayeeji, Advaniji and there are younger leaders like Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj. So what is the big deal! In every party you have the old generation and the younger generation and in our party the two co-exist peacefully."

It was learnt that the exclusion of two former Delhi chief ministers and senior partymen -- Madan Lal Khurana and Sahib Singh Verma -- from the Vajpayee government has been instrumental in sparking off the trouble in the party.

Significantly, both Khurana and Verma were recently warned by the party's disciplinary action committee.

BJP senior vice-president Jana Krishnamurthy did not want to get dragged into the party's Young Turk-old guard war. He echoed Naidu's contention that there had to be a "blend of old war-horses and Young Turks to make the most of our party's plus points."

According to the sources, Krishnamurthy is a "serious candidate" for the party chief's post, election for which will be held in March after Kushabhau Thakre steps down.

Party general-secretary Narendra Modi also preferred to remain silent. "This is a very sensitive area, my remarks are liable to be misread and misinterpreted," Modi said.

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