BJP’s strategy for Arnab Goswami ‘WhatsApp scandal’ — keep leaders quiet, focus on Budget

BJP leaders defended Arnab Goswami when he was arrested last year, but his image & relationship with ruling dispensation seems irreparably damaged this time.

BJP workers had taken to the streets to protest against the arrest of Arnab Goswami by the Mumbai Police last year | Representational image: ANI

New Delhi: The controversy over Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami’s leaked WhatsApp chats has caused some consternation in the BJP, which has now instructed its spokespersons and other leaders not to speak publicly on the issue.

Government and ruling party figures have largely stayed silent on this controversy, compared to how they had openly defended Arnab Goswami after he was arrested by the Mumbai Police last year.

While the leaders said the BJP was caught off-guard by the leak of WhatsApp chats between Arnab Goswami and the Broadcast Audience Research Council’s former CEO Partho Dasgupta, they added it is now chalking out a strategy to tackle whatever the opposition is planning for the budget session of Parliament, set to begin on 29 January.

The Congress has already pressed for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe and has raised concerns over Goswami’s claims of proximity with the Narendra Modi government, citing national security. Other opposition leaders claim the chats make it apparent that sensitive information related to the February 2019 Balakot strike in Pakistan was leaked to Goswami.

Senior functionaries say while some party leaders believe the BJP can easily fend off opposition attacks on the alleged leak of information about the impending Balakot airstrikes to Goswami, this “chatgate” has irreparably damaged the TV anchor’s image and his relationship with the ruling dispensation.

“The incident has damaged his reputation for sure. National security is an important issue and such chats have only shown that even for Arnab, all this was for petty TRPs. The kind of relations he enjoyed with the party and the government will certainly get altered,” said a senior BJP leader.

Two-pronged strategy

The BJP is now working on a two-pronged strategy — one, that PM Modi had already indicated that India would retaliate to the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel, so the question of a leak doesn’t arise; and two, that the focus should be on the Union Budget after the Covid-induced economic shock.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced in a rally that there would be a reaction after Pulwama happened, and any journalist could have put two and two together. In his speech, the PM had made it clear that India will retaliate. So the question of a leak (to Arnab Goswami) doesn’t arise,” said senior BJP leader and national spokesperson R.P. Singh.

“This is not rocket science, as the opposition is trying to make it appear. Our PM always announces everything, whether it is demonetisation or surgical strike. The opposition is trying to make everything an issue. We should concentrate on the Budget,” Singh added.

Singh even tweeted about this to blunt the Congress’ attack, but not many leaders have followed this strategy and chosen to stay mum.

Asked to comment on the Arnab Goswami chats controversy, another BJP national spokesperson Gopal Agarwal said: “Talk about agriculture, economy and on the Budget.”

BJP MP and another national spokesperson Aparajita Sarangi added: “The opposition is free to discuss anything, but they should respect the business advisory committee that decides on what should be the agenda. The Modi government believes in positive governance, and would want everyone, including the opposition, to be part of it. The opposition should not use this platform to run their agenda.”

‘Don’t comment without provocation’

However, at the same time, party spokespersons and leaders have been told not to raise the Arnab Goswami issue on social media, unless there is a provocation.

A number of leaders ThePrint spoke to said the chat leak has opened a Pandora’s box, putting them in a spot. At a time when the BJP is already trying to “manage” the protests against the farm laws, the chat leaks have only brought it negative publicity.

“This is definitely bad timing for the government as well as for the party. With specific ministers getting named in the chat and being accused of turning a blind eye to many complaints against Arnab Goswami, it has put us in a tight spot,” said another senior BJP leader, who didn’t want to be identified.

“The government has been functioning in a good manner, whether it is dealing with the lockdown due to coronavirus, ensuring food grains reach the needy, and now the vaccination rollout. The opposition had no issue to discuss, but first the farm laws and now the Arnab chats have given them issues on a platter,” the leader added.

The repeated mention of the Prime Minister’s Office as well several leaders including Prakash Javadekar, the late Arun Jaitley and Rajyavardhan Rathore in the chats is also an issue — a senior minister who didn’t want to be identified admitted that this is the first time anyone has raised question marks on the PMO, which has not gone down well with the top leadership.

A BJP leader, who is one of its key parliamentary coordinators, told ThePrint: “We will somehow manage the onslaught in Parliament, but the bigger question is the perception battle that has gone against us in the Arnab chats controversy. Although it can’t be compared with the Radia tapes, where the conversations were about fixing the (2G) spectrum, here the opposition can establish personal corruption to fix TRPs.”

The leader continued: “We have already said the I&B ministry is considering recommendations of a special committee to widen TRP meters. But Arnab’s chats that say ‘all ministers are with us’ and ‘PMO is with us’ have not gone down well with the government.”

Another senior BJP senior leader said: “Rivalry between different promoters of TV channels is also playing out right now, which is causing bad publicity for the government. But this time, the government can only wait for the Mumbai Police investigation to get over. Nobody knows how many more of these leaks will surface in the coming days.”