A rumour that Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj Singh was called for a personal audience by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then ticked off for "improper conduct" was rife in the BJP circles for the last few days forcing the Union home minister today to come out in public and deny it. More than the rumour itself it was the undercurrent that sent out ripples within the BJP inner circles. Many came to believe that the prime minister's vigilant eyes and ears spared none, not even his senior most colleague, the supposed number two in the government and secondly, the home minister was in office but not in command, at least not as much as his aura and stature would have required.
While no veracity of these rumours have been established yet, it spread thick and fast. From the BJP to the media to Sangh Parivar this had been the most lucidly discussed topic of late. It was also the latest in the series of other rumours that have been in vogue in the power corridors of the national capital as to how Modi was keeping a close watch on his own colleagues in the party and the government. The grapevine was that a trap was laid for Pankaj by someone at the top who suspected him of such wrongdoings and he walked straight into that. Thus it was said that PM's one-to-one chat with him, not just left him rattled but diminished his father's moral and actual authority within the government and Sangh Parivar.
The rumour that his son Pankaj worked as conduit for transfer of a middle level police officer has hit Rajnath where it could hurt him most – questioning his integrity, tarnishing his image and putting his son's budding political career in jeopardy. Coupled with that was the story how the home minister's role had effectively been curtailed in the ACC (Appointment Committee of the Cabinet).
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. PTI
Rajnath has been one of the RSS favourites. Singh, who had been BJP president twice, longest serving after Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani, also served as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister. He was also an Union minister in the Vajapyee government and has succeeded in keeping his reputation untainted till date. At the recent National Council meeting, Modi called him captain of the team that won the 2014 parliamentary elections for the BJP and Amit Shah as the man of the match. Amit Shah had earlier hailed his leadership and team spirit.
Rajnath was said to be both hurt and angry with these rumours. But, as he himself said, the rumours failed to die a natural death with the passage of time and kept on spreading forcing him to take up the matter with Modi and Shah. "In the last 15-20 days, there have been continuous rumours in the air about me and my family. I thought rumours have no basis and these will end in some days. But I am seeing that these rumours are gaining momentum day-by-day. I want to assure the nation that the day allegations, even prima facie or even small, are proven against me or my family, I will quit politics and public life and sit at home….I have told this to the prime minister and party president Amit Shah when we were sitting together. They have expressed surprise over this and termed it as completely baseless," Rajnath said in a hurriedly called interaction with journalists outside North Block.
He has also taken up the matter with the RSS brass and urged them to take corrective steps to stem in-house rivalry. This, however, was a fact he couldn't have spoken publicly. On being asked whether he had taken up the matter with the RSS leadership, he denied of talking to them on the issue.
Just as Rajnath spoke, an official statement from the PMO was released, strongly denying the rumours. Calling it motivated and malicious the statement said: "This has reference to reports appearing in a section of the media over the past several weeks, mentioning the Prime Minister, and referring to the conduct of some Union Ministers, and alleged misconduct of the Home Minister's son.
"The reports are plain lies, motivated and constitute a malicious attempt at character assassination and tarnishing the image of the Government. Those indulging in such rumour-mongering are damaging the interest of the nation. These reports are strongly denied."
While this made Rajnath to stand his ground, there are many who believe damage has been done for all concerned -- the party, government and Rajnath. The PMO's denial has also referred to other rumours relating to PM cautioning some other ministers. The so-called rumours have allowed the Congress with a hands on opportunity to target the Modi government. Modi allegedly snooping on his own minister and his number two in suspicion of petty corruption could just be the kind of ammunition Congress may have been looking for ahead of the next round of assembly elections.
There are certain suggestions from a section of BJP leaders that the rumours, its origin and spread was result of in-house rivalry. Again there is very little to support these charges and counter charges of infighting at the top, but if that is the case it is surely a bad sign for the Modi government.
The controversy is symptomatic of larger problem that the BJP faces, the infighting among senior leaders once again rearing its head. Earlier it affected only intra-party politics, now it can affect matters of governance and inter-ministerial coordination. It was only natural that the PMO was swift to sharply deny the rumours, within hours of its coming into the public domain.
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