Hit by a controversy following party president Rajnath Singh?s purported remarks in a magazine interview that decision making process in the party was largely controlled by the RSS, an embarrassed BJP on Tuesday moved in swiftly to do some damage control and deny the comments.
BJP national spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad this evening said, ?The interview contains certain statements, which the party chief never made, his observations have been deliberately distorted and quoted out of context.? ?There is a palpable attempt to maliciously convey a negative image,? he maintained.
Eyebrows were raised on Monday after the revelation of the remarks attributed to Singh in the interview in which he reportedly said that the RSS had 70% role in Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi?s removal in January this year from the party?s parliamentary board, while his own contribution was only 30%. Similarly, in the decision to remove Arun Jaitley as the BJP spokesperson, the RSS leadership had a 50% say.
Taking objection to the numerical values attributed to the party chief, Prasad said, ?In particular, I would like to emphasise that Rajnath Singh never made the uncharitable comments or the statistical references in the decision making process against his party colleagues and Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani. Even many observations about the RSS were either not made by him or have been quoted out of context,? he added.
Meanwhile, party circles maintained that the RSS too has taken a serious note of the interview as Singh?s utterances could prove to be a weapon for its critics. ?He needs to clarify, as mostly the decisions are taken at the party level, we are only, at times, being consulted on issues,? a senior Sangh functionary said.
A section of the party, however, believed that some irreparable damage had already been done. ?Any amount or level of clarification will not be enough for the party chief. Actually, it?s the intention not the text that is important,? they said.
