In a thinly-veiled attack on his own party bosses, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping & Water Resources Nitin Gadkari has stated that while there are many ‘heirs’ to victory, failure (electoral debacle) has become an orphan.
 
As per press reports which surfaced last week, Gadkari, former BJP president prior to Narendra Modi becoming the Prime Minister in 2014, is said to be the front-runner for the post of the BJP and NDA’s prime-ministerial candidate replacing Modi.  Gadkari’s attack on party bosses in the aftermath of the BJP’s electoral drubbing at the hands of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan ought to be viewed in this context.
 
Sangh Parivar, which remote-controls the BJP, is said to be seriously thinking of changing the party’s prime-ministerial candidate and may not repeat Modi for the parliamentary polls to be held in April/May next year.  Gadkari is said to be the ‘consensus’ candidate who enjoys RSS backing too and is perceived as ‘moderate’ compared to the ever-aggressive firebrand party leader and Uttar Pradesh chief-minister Yogi Adityanath.
 
“Leadership ought to own up responsibility for success and failures alike.  While there are many to celebrate victory, failure has, as always, become an orphan.  Nobody comes forward and owns a failure/disappointment.  In politics, leaders should learn to treat success and failure alike.  However, the prevailing trend is that failure makes responsible persons ‘disappear’ from the scene which is not good at all,” Gadkari said.