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BJP CRISIS MANAGEMENT IS POOR
By SWAPAN DAS GUPTA
In an ideal world, the mood at the BJP National Council meet in Mumbai
this week should have been celebratory. The NDA's thumping win over
Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar coupled with the party's silver jubilee,
should have been an occasion for the saffron faithful to look to the
future with some excitement.
Unfortunately, despite the lavish arrangements in Mumbai and the
accompanying razzmatazz, it is likely that the mood will be somewhat
subdued. At an immediate level, there are four reasons for the
prevailing sense of disorientation.
First, the two journalistic sting operations, Operation Duryadhona and
Operation Chakravahyuhas devastated the BJP much more than any other
party. The images of party MPs taking bribes while flanked by
portraits of the RSS founder Dr K B Hedgewar and Guruji M S Golwalkar
have had a crippling effect on the morale of the faithful.
What has compounded the emotional devastation is the revelation that
at least three of the errant MPs were former RSS pracharaks. In other
words, it is not merely the BJP's claim to be a "party with a
difference" that has been affected, the reputation of the RSS as a
proponent of ethical politics has been sullied.
The self-image and the self-confidence of the entire Sangh Parivar is
today at a low ebb. The whole gamut of issues revolving around ethics
in public life need to be addressed.
Second, with L K Advani announcing his resignation in controversial
circumstances at the Chennai National Executive last September, it was
understood that the BJP would have to select a new president and
anoint him or her in Mumbai.
Unfortunately, the party has been in complete denial over the
succession issue. While the issue has been discussed at great length
in informal meets throughout the country, there has been no
institutionalised decision-making at all.
Indeed, there has been a complete paralysis in decision-making. There
is one section which would rather leave the choice to the RSS. The
RSS, on the other hand, till quite recently, insisted that the issue
must be addressed by the BJP itself.
At the same time, the party has neither engaged in consultation with
the wider membership nor evolved a consensus at the top. The result is
that the party comes into Mumbai in a climate of uncertainty, with
whispers, rumours and speculation vitiating the atmosphere.
Finally, coinciding with the uncertainty over the next president, the
party is yet to address the issue of a generational shift. With the
defeat of the NDA in the 2004 general election, it was clearly
understood that the era of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani was over
and that a second generation would have to assume responsibilities for
running the party.
In practice, the generation shift has actually taken place at the
state level. However, at the national level the party is in a limbo
with the old guard still holding on but unable to get their decisions
through. It was this limbo that contributed to the dramatic exit of
Uma Bharti from the party in Madhya Pradesh and the relative
ineffectiveness of the party in Parliament.
The internal impasse within the BJP was primarily responsible for the
party not being able to fully exploit the failures of the Manmohan
Singh-led UPA Government. Electoral politics in India has become
presidential and personality-driven over the past decade.
The BJP needs a powerful, new face to take on the Congress and the
Left. It has been unable to decide who that face ought to be. What is
particularly tragic is that the mess has arisen despite there being
leaders with potential, capable of filling the void left by Vajpayee
and Advani.
Finally, there is the vexed issue of ideology which has cropped up
from time to time after May 2004. In simplistic terms, the debate
centres on the necessary quantum of identity politics within a
coalition set-up. In practical terms, however, the issue boils down to
the BJP finding a cause that will be as potent as the Ayodhya issue
which captured the public imagination in between 1989 and 1993.
To some extent, the theme of good governance which was the hallmark of
the NDA between 1998 and 2004 still holds good. In Gujarat, Narendra
Modi has demonstrated that a shift from aggressive Hindutva to
development and good governance need not be at the cost of public
support.
Likewise, in Bihar, it was not Hindutva but the promise of wholesome
governance that did the trick. To regain power at the Centre, the BJP
is fully aware that it needs coalition partners who are more enthused
by anti-Congressism than Hindutva.
At the same time, there are important fraternal organisations like the
VHP who want the party to revert to the past. The RSS leadership too
is concerned that the BJP minus assertive Hindutva is like the B-team
of the Congress.
The ideological questions need deft handling. Obviously, the BJP
cannot disown Hindutva. It is, after all, what distinguishes the party
from the rest of the political firmament. But except in moments of
high emotional fervour, Hindutva issues cannot win the BJP extra
votes. Nor does it help firm up alliances with the rest of the NDA
partners.
The party needs to grapple with the question of how it can become a
conventional Hindu nationalist party which is in a position to
influence politics, rather than merely state abstract positions. Since
the late-1980s, the BJP has shied away from a full-scale ideological
debate.
Yet, the need for such a debate is paramount at present because that
clarity will be imperative for all future political interventions. A
National Council session, given its size and carnival-like atmosphere,
is not the most appropriate forum for serious deliberations.
At the same time, a political convention is not merely a celebratory
occasion. Political issues have to be touched upon and addressed.
Unfortunately, as things stand today, the BJP seems to be in a mood to
avoid contentious issues at all cost and show that it speaks in one
voice. This is escapism.
Political parties encounter problems centred on both issues and
individuals. These have to be deliberated upon in an honest,
democratic and transparent way.
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EXCLUSIVE STORY
