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	Virendra Kapoor

December 31, 2002

	Suddenly, Narendra Modi is a favourite in his party circles. So is Arun Jaitley, though compared to the Gujarat chief minister he is but a pale shadow. At the Bharatiya Janata Party's two-day national executive meeting in New Delhi last week, everyone heaped praises on Modi for his landslide electoral victory. Leaders from across the nation vied with each other to touch him, hug him, talk to him. Seemed the saffron party too had embraced the personality cult -- or, as now Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee used to say about Indira Gandhi's Congress, adhinayakbad. There is a reason why BJP leaders buttered up Modi. Party president M Venkaiah Naidu had conveyed very clearly it was Modi who conceived and carried out the Gujarat campaign, supported ably by BJP general secretary Jaitley. And the leaders would like nothing better than the duo to come work the same magic in their respective states in forthcoming elections. Thus, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who faces a tough poll next year, has asked Modi to handle his campaign. Dhumal requested Jaitley, too, and was overjoyed when he agreed. Even Vasuandhra Raje, newly-appointed BJP chief for Rajasthan, wants the duo to help her win the state back from the Congress. Look who won Jaitely too was generously felicitated by the BJP national executive. For nearly a month, the legal expert had relocated from New Delhi to Gandhinagar to become the most important cog in Modi's poll machine. Jaitley masterminded the media campaign, put a daily spin on matters contingent on the ultimate poll outcome, and generally smoothened the rough edges. He had staked his political career by openly teaming up with Modi, who, till his landslide win, was far from popular in his own party circles. Also, Jaitley had a personal motive. Having abandoned his lucrative legal practice for a full month, he braved the barbs of the capital's chattering classes. They said he was out of his mind to link up with Modi. Incidentally, Jaitley turned 50 on December 28. He marked the day with a grand dinner at his south Delhi home where the capital's chattering classes were in full flow -- the same ones who had written him off till barely two weeks ago! Dhumal Vs Kumar In New Delhi, BJP leaders also tried to set their Himachal house in order. Chief Minister Dhumal and party veteran Union minister Shanta Kumar have been at loggerheads for a long time. An ongoing exercise to redraw electoral constituencies has further exacerbated matters, with Kumar suspecting a plot to reduce his influence in his pocket borough, the Kangra valley. Given the election to the state assembly is due in February, BJP president Naidu called Dhumal and Kumar to his home for a rapprochement. Present on the occasion were Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Jaitley and other BJP leaders from Himachal. But the meeting made little headway. Dhumal refused to accept Kumar's nominee as state party chief. Naidu and Jaitley haven't given up hope. Not yet. Little Naidu wants to play The luncheon feast hosted by Naidu at his bungalow for BJP leaders and the media was a washout, thanks to unscheduled rain. Since Naidu was preoccupied with winding up the national executive meeting, he deputed Urban Development Minister Ananth Kumar to ensure the guests and the rows of long tables laden with hot Andhra cuisine didn't get wet. Kumar had a couple of very thin tents put up on the sprawling lawns, but those hardly sheltered the 300-odd guests. Which provoked a guest to mutter, "Sithanshu Mittal would have done a better job than Kumar." The reference was to the former Delhi University Students Union president who now runs a flourishing tent business and is closely aligned to the BJP. Mittal, though, wasn't around to help. Illustrations: Uttam Ghosh Mail us your comments Capital Buzz
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