The
Sullen Seven
Sushma Swaraj, former cabinet minister
CV:
Age:
48. The aunty next door started out as the stormy petrel of the Janata
Party and a George Fernandes groupie. Blessed with fluent Sanskritised
Hindi, she moved to the BJP and the Rajya Sabha. An Advani favourite,
she made her mark in the 1996 and 1998 elections and ended up as a cabinet
minister. Her woes began when she was made the sacrificial lamb in the
Delhi assembly election of 1998. Bouncing back as the challenger to Sonia
Gandhi in Bellary, she was left out from the Vajpayee Cabinet.
Status:
The BJP's campaigner at large, she draws large crowds but refuses to be
drawn into undertaking party responsibilities. Now a Rajya Sabha member,
she is also a discreet dissident.
Grouse: Can't understand why she was punished
for the Delhi defeat and won't accept any position because Vajpayee doesn't
have faith in her. Rues being blamed for her husband's politics.
Danger: Growing frustration could lead to
ideological posturing. As a long-
distance runner, she poses the greatest threat to Vajpayee's overlordship.
Shatrughan
Sinha, filmstar MP
CV: Age: 51. A drop-out from Patna Science
College, the Bihari babu with a reputation of being a loud mouth was the
star of films like Kalicharan and Vishwanath. He began the procession
of filmstars into the BJP. An indefatigable campaigner since 1989, he
is wheeled out by the party during elections. His oratory combines theatrics
with hard politics.
Status: A Rajya Sabha member who nurtured
ambitions of being named the BJP's chief ministerial candidate in Bihar,
Sinha has had to be content with backbencher status. Recently offered
the chairmanship of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune,
as a sop, he feels he deserves better. Angered by the argument that there
can't be two Kayasths in the Cabinet, he is believed to have told his
mentor, Advani: "But aren't there two Sindhis?"
Grouse: Wants to be cabinet minister and
feels that Bihar merits more representation now that Yashwant Sinha and
Rita Varma have become part of the new Jharkhand state. "I don't
question the wisdom of my supreme leader but I certainly wish that people
who contributed to the popularity of the party should be given due respect."
Danger: Apart from sulking and cursing his
bad luck, there's precious little he can do or is inclined to do. But
if he opts out, the BJP will lose the services of one of its star political
campaigners. That will be bad news in Bihar and a great boost to Laloo
Prasad Yadav.
Uma Bharati,
preacher & ex-minister
CV: Age: 41. Began as a child prodigy
and became a strident face of the Ayodhya movement. A fifth term MP, she
was handpicked by Advani to make an orderly transition to responsible
politics. Became a minister in 1999 and then resigned inexplicably to
begin a crusade against Digvijay Singh in Madhya Pradesh.
Status: Focus and discipline aren't her strong
points. She wants to be in the limelight but isn't sure how. "To
be ambitious isn't a crime."
Grouse: Angry with the world, the declining
standards of politics and the BJP, she is contemplating retiring from
politics altogether. She wants something, possibly the chief ministership
of either Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh.
Danger: An unguided missile, she is a threat
to anyone on her wrong side. A symbol of resurgent backward caste Hindutva,
her exit could further erode the Lodh vote bank of the BJP.
Narendra
Modi, BJP & RSS apparatchik
CV:
Age: 49. A backward caste full-time RSS pracharak, he was exiled from
Gujarat in 1995 after Shankersinh Vaghela's revolt. BJP general secretary
in charge of Haryana, Punjab, Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, he is unofficially
banned from Gujarat.
Status:
With Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel seeing red at the mere mention
of his name, the prospect of an early home-coming is remote. He is busy
with his responsibilities but pines for Gujarat.
Grouse:
Would love to enter electoral politics and put his great organisational
and oratorical skills to more effective use if only the RSS allowed him.
Is bitter with Advani for not facilitating his return to Gujarat.
Danger:
A darling of younger BJP workers, his energy threatens the comfort level
of BJP and RSS veterans. They want to delay his inevitable rise. He could
end up challenging them.
K.N.
Govindacharya, RSS ideologue & BJP functionary
CV: Age: 61. A bhu graduate with a facility
for languages, he was the brightest star of the RSS assigned to the BJP
in 1988. His meteoric rise in the party under Advani was checked when
he fell out with M.M. Joshi in 1992. Banished to Chennai, he made a quiet
re-entry in 1996 but soon found himself in a soup again. The alleged author
of the famous remark about Vajpayee being the mukhauta (mask) of the BJP,
he is inseparable from controversy.
Status: For a man once regarded as the next
Deendayal Upadhyaya, he has fallen on hard times. He still commands the
fierce loyalty of younger leaders but others see him as cliquish and untrustworthy.
With Vajpayee, he is a persona non grata.
Grouse: Feels the leadership has lost its
ideological spine and is incapable of taking harsh decisions to purge
the party.
Danger: Enjoying the RSS chief's confidence,
he could become the instrument of a return to hardline politics.
Madan
Lal Khurana, former cabinet minister 
CV: Age: 64. A garrulous practitioner
of municipal politics, Khurana led the BJP to a famous victory in Delhi
in 1993. Resigned from the Vajpayee Cabinet in 1998 protesting against
RSS interference.
Status: Has floated the Delhi Vikas Mahasangh
after being sacked as BJP vice-president.
Grouse: Wants his old job as leader of the
Delhi BJP back in time for the 2003 assembly poll.
Danger: Despite protestations of loyalty
to the RSS and BJP, he is sufficiently frustrated to break away and ruin
the BJP's future chances in Delhi.
Rajnath
Singh, union cabinet minister
CV: Age: 48. Shot to fame as Uttar Pradesh
education minister in 1991 and author of the Anti-Copying Ordinance. Was
state BJP president before joining the Vajpayee Cabinet.
Status: Permanent chief minister in waiting
of Uttar Pradesh. If only R.P. Gupta was shown the door.
Grouse: Has lost face in his state after
Gupta was given a last-minute respite in July. Feels he was led up the
garden path by the BJP leadership. More so because he never asked for
the job.
Danger: His setback is seen as a humiliation
for the Thakurs. The BJP has politically crippled a dynamic state leader.
That's good news for Mulayam Singh Yadav.