Met The New Boss At The Picnic?

Saffron Wash

• The BJP president blames senior leaders for the rot that has set in
• Gadkari changes tack, say Ram temple no longer an election issue
• Appeals to Muslims to give up land, promises mosque along with temple
• Partymen want an answer to Rahul Gandhi for the 2014 general election
• CMs Raman Singh, Narendra Modi set the agenda, focusing on terrorism and the fight against Maoists

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When BJP president Nitin Gadkari decided to burst into song at the party’s national executive council last week, he chose the old classic from Anand—Zindagi kaisi hai paheli/kabhi yeh hansaye/kabhi yeh rulaye (Life is such a riddle/sometimes it makes us laugh/sometimes cry). The new party president has been put up in a tent with a portly Ganesha painted on the entrance in a huge makeshift village on the outskirts of Indore. He is even being driven around in a battery-operated van. The signals are there, the BJP under this portly, genial chief is looking at new beginnings.