From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI, March 7: Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik has put the BJP in a dilemma with his pointed personal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and call for defeating the party in the next Parliament polls.
The BJP is reportedly caught between sacking him immediately or waiting for the Assembly poll results to be declared on March 10.
Top party sources had earlier indicated that Malik would be replaced or sacked after the elections in Uttar Pradesh and four other states for incessantly criticising the BJP, its parent organisation RSS and its top leaders including the Prime Minister.
The party’s dilemma increased after the final phase of polling ended on Monday and conflicting exit polls trickled in.
Targeting the PM on the farmers’ issue, Malik claimed that the law to guarantee minimum support price did not materialise as a “friend of Modi” wanted to purchase grains from farmers at cheaper rates to sell at higher prices in the market later. He was addressing a meeting organised by the Kandela Khap Panchayat in Kandela village of the Jind district of Haryana.
To add salt to injury, Malik appealed to the farmers’ to unite and throw out Modi and his BJP government in the next Lok Sabha elections. By throwing out the BJP government at the Centre, the farmers can form their own in New Delhi, he said.
“I have six months tenure of governorship. Soon after, I will tour the north of India to unite the farmers and urge them to form their own government in Delhi. This is the time to change the government,” Malik stated.
Launching a scathing attack on the BJP, Malik said he had visited western UP during the polls and found that not a single minister could enter any villages in those areas for canvassing. He said some people tried to make him understand not to speak against the government as he could get the post of Vice-President or President.
“I had said during the farmers’ agitation that the farmers will scare away those governing today and even the PM will not be visible in the next general elections. Though the PM accepted some of the farmers’ demands, there are many questions staring at them,” Malik said.
He also defended the unfurling of the Nishan Sahib flag on the Red Fort during the farmers’ agitation. He said he had spoken to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the day when Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait broke down on the stage and the movement of farmers began moving from Haryana and other parts of the region.
The Kandela Khap, which has been at the forefront of the farmers’ agitation, had honoured Malik for his stand in favour of the farmers. The BJP and RSS leadership is “quite upset” with him but is not able to take any immediate action in view of the ongoing polls in five states.
The farmers from Punjab had also invited Malik to visit their poll-bound state to honour him with the “Awaz-e-Hind” (Voice of India) title. The farmers were praising Malik for taking up their issue at the highest level.
Malik was in almost all major political parties and has links with leaders across the party lines.
He started his criticism of the BJP after he was transferred to Goa in the wake of Jammu and Kashmir becoming a Union Territory. Following serious tiff with the Goa government, he was shifted to Meghalaya but continued his criticism of the party and its leadership which reached a crescendo during the yearlong farmer’s agitation.
In between, he took on RSS leader and Ram Madhav, who had been in charge of the BJP in Meghalaya. He said that when he was the J&K governor, Madhav had assured him a huge sum of money if he cleared some controversial deals.