What happens when Dawood joins BJP

NEW DELHI: Dawood Ibrahim, the don of Mumbai now living in Karachi, has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. A statement from his Company said he was a different man now and the BJP was the party with a difference. Hence the choice. The BJP has said that the new and improved Ibrahim was welcome to the fold.

Mr Ibrahim joined the party after paying the Rs-5 membership fee to party president Venkaiah Naidu. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee however did not attend the function. He did not comment on the issue saying he would not take names of individuals. He has repeatedly said criminals have no place in politics. " We are of the view that criminals should not be allowed to enter politics. I do not want to dwell on individual names," the Prime Minister said.

Mr Ibrahim, who has been accused of the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, has not spoken to the media but his colleagues say he would be very pleased to serve his own country, rather than serving its neighbour.

Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani declined to comment on the admission of the controversial don into the party saying that whatever Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said "without taking anybody's name is correct".

But the BJP has sought to defend Mr Ibrahim's induction saying everybody was welcome to the party.

"The BJP is an ocean and all kinds of rivers flow into it but these do not affect the ocean's cleanliness," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said.

"Every one knows about the ideology of the party and if they want to join knowing what BJP stands for, they are welcome," senior BJP leader Swaraj said.

Mr Ibrahim's spokesperson said the former don does not only know what BJP stands for but can also spell it correctly: BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY.

Party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "Keechad mein kamal khilta hai (Lotus blooms in the midst of filth). And we will not let the lotus wilt for the lack of it. What's wrong in getting some filth till the lotus shines." Lotus is BJP's election symbol.

Party President Venkaiah Naidu sought to allay fears about the don dictating terms in the party. "Dawood joined the BJP as a member. He has not been given any party post or assured of party ticket in the Lok Sabha elections," Naidu told reporters here.

But the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) are not happy with the BJP's decision to induct the dreaded criminal.

But BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan refuted the allegations levelled against the party. "Who says he is a criminal. He has not been convicted. As far as we are concerned he is not a criminal."

"This will harm in the long run," RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said. RSS is the party's ethical and moral guide and oral philosopher.

However sources in the Sangh Parivar said there was enough mud in the Parivar to help the lotus bloom and asked all the Parivar members to stop wasting mud in mud-slinging. "Had they not wasted all that, BJP did not need to import it."

VHP's Ashok Singhal said the BJP must not drop the Ram temple issue from its agenda. Nothing else matters.

(A small part of the report is fictional like the Karachi don joining the BJP. But most part of the story including the reactions are true.)