New Delhi: Murmurs of BJP President Nitin Gadkari getting another term have been growing louder as the RSS top brass continues to repose its faith in him and is happy that he is leaving no stone unturned in improving the party's prospects in Assembly elections since he took over.
Gadkari, who will complete his three-year term in December 20121, has led BJP from the front in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh elections.
From ticket distribution to ushering in leaders like Uma Bharti and Sanjay Joshi, Gadkari has been deeply involved in the party's endeavour to win as many seats as possible in the politically crucial state.
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat is said to have expressed his satisfaction at Gadkari's performance, according to sources, and this augurs well for the latter. RSS is keen on continuing with Gadkari till the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to take place in 2014, they said.
"The chess board of politics within BJP and the RSS is such that Gadkari is likely to be given another term. There is no other suitable alternative on whom both the Sangh and the party can easily have a consensus. Since he has done a good job till now, he is likely to be rewarded," a BJP MP said.
The BJP Constitution states that the party president will be elected only for one term of three years. But this clause has been amended in the past and once the Sangh founthead decides to change it again, the rest will fall in line, the sources said.
Gadkari was the RSS choice for the BJP top post after it faced two consecutive defeats in the Lok Sabha polls in 2004 and 2009. Since he has been building up the party for the next general elections, it is logical that the party not change the leader midstream, they said.
"Gadkari is Bhagwat's 'pet boy'. Moreover, his style of functioning is to take everybody along as far as possible. He has managed to take tough decisions like bringing Uma Bharti and Sanjay Joshi into the party fold," a senior leader said. Joshi's induction had left Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi unhappy, but Gadkari stuck to his guns and RSS has stood by him.
The RSS meet scheduled to take place in Nagpur from March 15 to 17 could take up the issue of Gadkari. By that time, the results of the five on-going Assembly polls, including the crucial Uttar Pradesh elections, will also be out.
Gadkari's policy of distributing tickets to candidates on the basis of surveys and local inputs has made the process more infallible. Though some leaders say this has delayed decision-making and a few have prevailed over BJP's Central Election Committee to get their followers the ticket, most feel this process has improved prospects.
The 55-year-old leader has also got a shot in the arm with the party retaining its hold over the Mumbai, Nagpur and Thane local bodies.
In the 2010 Bihar elections too, BJP had performed much beyond expectations.
Gadkari has also taken some tough decisions. These include asking Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa to step down after he was indicted by the Lokayukta in a graft case, sacking party MLAs in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly after they cross-voted, and forming a BJP-led coalition government in Jharkhand with JMM.
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