Gadkari in Spain amidst BJP crisis

The BJP president, Mr Nitin Gadkari, who is also chairman of a sugar factory, embarks on a personal business trip to Spain from Monday while his party remains entangled in a series of political problems, including in Jharkhand.

Mr Gadkari, whose business interests include electricity generation through sugarcane, is also expected to visit some biofuel generation projects in Spain.

Mr Gadkari will be travelling with his family and plans to return to India after a fortnight.

A section of the BJP has voiced objections to the party president going on a “vacation” at a time when some crucial issues, including the political crisis in Jharkhand and key organisational appointments, remain pending.

In Jharkhand, while the former chief minister and Jamshedpur MP, Mr Arjun Munda, is the frontrunner for the chief minister’s post in Ranchi, the power-sharing formula with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, its coalition partner in the state, is yet to be resolved. The JMM wants the chief ministership to be shared between the two parties on an equal basis. The smaller members of the coalition, including the AJSU and Janata Dal (U), had asked the BJP president to take a final call.

But with Mr Gadkari going abroad on Monday, the matter would remain unresolved till his return.

Hectic lobbying is also on within the party for the state in-charge posts, particularly for those of BJP-ruled states, but these too can now only be decided after Mr Gadkari comes back.