Varun poster strike leaves BJP red-faced

ALLAHABAD: A rash of "unofficial" posters has broken out in this city, giving the BJP a headache ahead of its national executive meeting that begins here today. The hoardings show disgruntled BJP politicians Varun Gandhi, Shatrughan Sinha and Sanjay Joshi, none of whom has a comfortable relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi or party chief Amit Shah. Sinha, MP from Patna Sahib, has aligned himself with veteran L.K. Advani and makes no secret of his fondness for Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Joshi has been a long-time thorn in Modi's flesh. But it's Sultanpur MP Varun who is the star in this cast of dissidents and dominates most of the billboards. Local BJP politicians said the posters, including those showing Shatrughan and Joshi, were put up five days ago by the Varun Yuva Brigade, a fan club spread across eastern and central Uttar Pradesh. In Allahabad, the Yuva Brigade's members include many BJP workers loyal to former party MLA Uday Bhan Kawariya, who is in jail after a murder conviction. Varun is the only BJP leader to visit him now and then and has earned his allegiance. "It (the poster campaign) is clearly a design to embarrass the leaders. It looks like Varun is trying to see how far he can take the battle to secure pre-eminence in Uttar Pradesh before the (Assembly) polls (due early next year)," a Lok Sabha member from the state said. The posters do not project Varun as the chief ministerial candidate but do try to build him up with an eye on the polls. They have been placed strategically, from right outside the Bambroli airport to the venue of the conclave on the KP College grounds, to greet the arriving leaders. " Na goondagardi na bhrashtachar, Ab ki bar UP mein Bhajpa sarkar, Mission 265 (No hooliganism, no corruption, this time UP will get a BJP government with 265 seats)," screams one of the posters. "UP ki karun pukar, ab ki bar Bhajpa sarkar (UP is pleading for a BJP government)," says another. Varun's smiling face looks out next to those of Modi and Shah. A couple of posters show him with Mumbai MP Poonam Mahajan, whose late father Pramod Mahajan had helped Varun and his mother Maneka Gandhi to join the BJP. Asked for his reaction, BJP general secretary Arun Singh said: "Nobody becomes a leader through posters. Our Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand chief ministers did not get the post because of posters. An excessive use of posters causes a backlash." Singh said the BJP had only sanctioned the projection of Modi, Shah, its chief ministers, parliamentary board members and state unit presidents, and the veterans Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani on its promotional material. A BJP source said that in a poll-bound state, aspiring candidates often tend to put up posters of heavyweights in the hope of gaining their patronage. But Varun, the source added, does not fall in this category because he is not in the state or central election committee and is therefore not in any position to help ticket seekers. Another BJP official stressed that the more Varun and his cheerleaders used posters as a "pressure tactic", the higher the chances of him being "ignored" in the run-up to the polls. "Nobody's listening to Varun," the source said. Still, the BJP's media strategists put their heads together this evening to try and devise a way of knocking Varun off the media spotlight by today. They are hoping that the presence of a bevy of former Congress worthies at the executive as "special invitees" will upstage Varun's attraction. These heavyweights are former chief ministers Vijay Bahuguna (Uttarakhand) and Giridhar Gamang (Odisha), former Manipur deputy chief minister Thounaojam Chaoba Singh and Himanta Biswa Sarma of Assam. -The Telegraph Calcutta