A RARE GLIMPSE INTO BJP'S INTERNAL BATTLES

A clubhouse election in Delhi signals rivalries and succession struggles within India's ruling party

- BY SWATI CHATURVEDI | Special to Gulf News

The Constitution Club of India — a club dedicated to Members of Parliament (who don't have enough privileges already) and other members such as top officials and judges, located in Lutyens' Delhi went to the polls recently.

And, it was a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) versus BJP fight between Rajiv Pratap Rudy, BJP veteran and Member of Parliament from Saran (and also a commercial pilot), and Sanjeev Balyan, two-term BJP MP.

The fight for the Constitution Club, some leaders say, was more keenly contested than many a battle for the Lok Sabha elections. At this point, my beloved readers must be mystified: why should a club election concern and detain us at all? Because it is a huge pointer to two things: one, the opaque politics of internal BJP, which is constantly guarded from journalistic scrutiny, and two, how the opposition, when it gets its act together, can actually pull off a coup against the hyper-dominant BJP.