An exchange over who organised a BJP event in Indore has drawn attention to the party’s political equations, after Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav praised state general secretary Gaurav Ranadive from the stage and minister Kailash Vijayvargiya responded with a pointed remark.
The exchange took place on Thursday at the launch of a campaign to distribute property registry documents under the Swamitv Adhikar Yojana. BJP National President Nitin Nabin was also present.
The Congress sought to turn the exchange into a political issue. Vijayvargiya offered no explicit criticism of either Yadav or Ranadive from the stage. However, his choice of words gave Congress an opening and revived speculation about the BJP’s internal politics in front of a national leader.
AICC media coordinator Nilabh Shukla said the remarks had exposed factionalism within the BJP. He argued that Vijayvargiya’s claim to have learned a “secret” only after the chief minister spoke raised questions about coordination between the party’s leaders.
Addressing the gathering, Yadav called Ranadive the ‘sutradhar’, or architect, of the programme, crediting him with putting together the event at short notice. When Vijayvargiya spoke, he referred to the chief minister’s praise. Ranadive was once widely seen in local political circles as having the backing of Vijayvargiya and MLA Ramesh Mendola when he became the Indore BJP city president. His subsequent rise in the organisation has led to renewed scrutiny of that relationship. The two leaders continue to appear together at public events.
“I thank the chief minister for revealing a secret,” he said, before thanking and congratulating Ranadive for the event.
