Success has many fathers and failure has none. But in a very perverse manner a contradictory scene is developing on Indian political scene. BJP which lost the election seems to be taking new rabbits out of hat every other week, while Congress, which won the election, seems to be calm. Without usual drama they selected their cabinet ministry and started working as if there was never any election or as if it’s their right to be in the government. On the other hand the leadership in the BJP is crumbling under the pressure of defeat and its cadres are left without any sense of direction and purpose. Moreover, it is embarrassing to see way these ‘senior’ leaders are washing their dirty laundry in pubic. I am not saying there shouldn’t be disagreements but for the love of all that’s sweet on mother earth just shut the fuck up. First you got Uma Bharati then Yashwant Sinha, Murali Manohar Joshi and now Jaswant Singh and of all people, Arun Shourie! What the heck? What bit these intelligent people to run naked in public? I mean really, it’s just really uncool!
I always use to brag that BJP has deep leadership qualities amongst her ranks and file. And most of them are not corrupt and dedicated towards the goal. We had Mr. Vajapayee and Mr. Advani at the helm - two sages of Indian political scene. There is never any question about their integrity, honesty and devotion towards India. And since they have seen every possible up and down in India since independence, it’s just natural that they will usher India into new age of plural democracy and secular development. Then they had second defensive line of Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Sikandar Bakhta et all. These folks were not exactly young but experienced, dedicated and for most purposes clean. And as if this was not enough they had third generation leadership emerging in Narendra Modi, Uma Bharati, Arun Jaitley, Sushama Swaraj and Pramod Mahajan. These folks not only had strong popular base (except for Arun Jaitley) but they were astute politicians who are also keenly aware of mood of emerging India. And then of course you have legendry foot soldiers of BJP who for most purposes graduated from RSS. These people were selfless, dedicated and motivated by higher cause.
Was this picture figment of (my) imagination or a mirage that BJP managed to create? Neither is true I guess because looking at BJP’s performance in last 20 years it is hard to believe that they would achieve all this without committed cadre base, sensible and intelligent mid-to-senior level and charismatic top rung. And BJP can’t create mirage of anything. That’s for sure. If they can then this is the best time to do that! So what happened? Where did they loose their common sense? What happened to all the discipline that RSS imparted? The fall has been so swift and so quick that it’s hard to fathom exactly when and where they lost all grey material?
The electoral defeat in 2004 general election was surely a shocker but the party did regroup and string of victories in state electoral (including establishing first government in South India) gave every indication that they are up for power in next general election. But it was not meant to be so. They did cling to their seats but the defeat was fatal. Congress swept through the polls and established themselves for another five years. Instead of introspecting senior members of the party started going berserk. Unless the party changes rank and file drastically, they are going down the drain pretty soon.
First of all, and it may seem extremely harsh, Mr. Advani needs to make a way. He is one of the greatest leaders and statesman that India has produced and surely one of the rarest breed who has capability to galvanize huge mass movements. Unfortunately though He is on wrong side of 80 and even if BJP wins the next general election, there is no way he could lead the nation. He not only loosing the control but it seems that he is completely dumbfounded to see his trusted lieutenants behaving in this manner. It will be sad to see him going in such circumstances. He certainly deserves a lot better. But fresh blood is extremely necessary at this juncture. If new leadership fails then at least they will fail after giving a fair shot. And no, Rajnath Singh can’t be his replacement! There are few choices apart from Narendra Modi. I think Sushama Swaraj fits the bill right now. She is intelligent and most importantly she has mass base.
Second, it is absolutely necessary for them to embrace Hindutva completely. It is the single factor that bought them to power. It was the reason they attracted educated middle class and it is the only viable ideology to attract poor to its fold. BJP, when ruling, showed how Hindutva seamlessly meshes up with development. So the Market and industries shouldn’t have any problems with Hindutva. On the social front though dilly-dallying with Hindutva has caused insurmountable damage. Glaring example is the sorry state of the party in Uttar Pradesh. They pretty much lost Delhi because of it. Uttar Pradesh is the most populace (I am including break-away states for this argument) state in India and has highest number of electorate votes. At one point BJP was winning more than 60 seats out of 89 and now they barely cross 10’s. It’s just pathetic.
Third, as mentioned earlier, they need to shut their mouth-holes. There is really no need to yap. They need to put their heads down and start working again. They have enough strength to win next general election. It’s just they need to stay as a united. If only they keep quite then they will hear the footsteps of inevitable doom. They need to be aware of this and should be scared.
And finally, I sincerely hope their next Prime Ministerial candidate is Narendra Modi. There is no alternative to him. They need to rally around him and he is the best hope at this point.
