More than Priyanka Gandhi, BJP needs to think about the dissenting voices of NDA I

New Delhi, Jan 29: All the focus in Indian politics at the moment is on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the sister of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi who formally entered politics last week by being appointed the AICC general secretary for East UP.

For the Grand Old Party, this was a sort of moment that required it to play its final card under its sleeve because it didn't find a place in the alliance formed between the two big parties in the state - Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.

There is also nothing spectacular to tell about the status of the party's cadre strength in the most important state politically. The only fair option was to transform Priyanka from a part-time to a full-time politician.

The BJP has used the opportunity to show to the world that the Congress is nothing more than a dynastic party. This has been the point around which the saffron party has rallied in the past elections as well and its president Amit Shah even went to the extent of mocking the Congress's 'OROP' as "Only Rahul Only Priyanka".

Voices in the BJP also asked whether Rahul was a "joker" if Priyanka is being seen as the "trump card".

Whether the induction of Priyanka Gandhi will turn the equation in favour of the Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha election is something only time knows. But one suspects the BJP is overdoing in its reaction to something which the Congress has full right to do as its internal matter.

The BJP's old-timers are not happy with the current leadership

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party instead need to address instead another concern that might hurt them even if apparently it seems harmless. The issue is about the party's old-timers' dissatisfaction with the current leadership.

There are a whole lot of leaders who had once belonged to the front row of the BJP of the Atal Behari Vajpayee era. While some of them have been expelled, others have quit or still remain in the party causing a discomfort for those in control in these times.

Three of such leaders -- Yaswant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Shatrughan Sinha - were even seen joining the anti-Modi chorus in Kolkata recently organised by the Trinamool Congress. Another old-timer Jaswant Singh was expelled ahead of the Lok Sabha election 2014 for six years.

Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj has already said that she is not running for this year's Lok Sabha election while another minister Nitin Gadkari has been accused of indirectly targeting PM Modi in his speeches.

The tallest of all the old-timers - Lal Krishna Advani - has spent perhaps his most silent days in the parliament over the last five years and the country might not see the nonagenarian in the House again in 2019.

The dissenting old guards have also felt energised after the three poll defeats

This situation has virtually seen two BJPs in the national politics now. On the one hand is the second-generation BJP led by Modi and Shah where the duo calls all the shots and there is very little scope for any differing viewpoint. The other is the old BJP which stands scattered but hasn't forgotten the way it was sidelined in the Modi era.

As long as the Modi-Shah duo was winning elections, there was not much to say for these dissenting quarters but after the BJP lost three states in the Hindi heartland last month, those ex-BJP members or dissenting members of the party have felt vindicated, along with the Opposition parties.

The presence of the two Sinhas and Shourie - once ministers in Vajpayee's NDA government - has proved the convergence of the anti-Modi sentiments, irrespective of the political backgrounds.

BJP could have used the old guards purposefully

The Modi leadership has in effect added to its headache ahead of the next general elections by alienating the old guard of the party which had felt itself terribly let down by the NDA II.

Had the party decided to use these individuals and their experiences in some form over the last five years, the intensity of their opposition would have been lesser but it was not planned with the same precision with which the BJP treats several other aspects.

There was a Margdarshak Mandal to accommodate some of the old guards to give them a gloried retired life but that plan hasn't paid off which is seen from the degree of dissatisfaction the old guards have with the party today.

The BJP's top brass could also have used these old leaders during their electioneering programmes instead of depending solely on Modi and Shah. They could have played a vital role in presenting to the people an amalgamation of the high points of the BJP of Vajpayee and that of Modi. But that was not to be.

On the ground, the one-time assistants to Vajpayee might have little significance today for none of them are young and crowd-pullers by themselves and stand no chance to give Modi a threat.

But what these leaders could do is to make the BJP look an unhappy and divided unit for the supporters and followers and that might not be a very happy message to convey ahead of an all-important election.