Decide Yourself

Now even the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — the source of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) doctrine — has categorically stated that the BJP has to itself evolve a strategy to be back on track and that the Sangh can only advise if approached. While one may contest the theory that the RSS as of now has evolved as not to meddle with BJP affairs because this is none of its business in its new scheme, the BJP as a political party in the 21st century can at least begin to behave independently. Has not the Sangh, after all, asked the BJP to chalk out a plan on its own and decide for itself what should and should not be done for a speedy recovery from internal feud? Last week, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that ‘‘the Sangh has its own task (of uniting the society)’’ and that it was for the BJP to ‘‘think and decide’’ its own future. ‘‘We are not worried (about the goings-on in the BJP) and it is immaterial whether the Sangh is happy or not happy about it; the BJP has to think and decide its future.’’

Last Friday’s was a rare press conference by the RSS chief. The message was clear and categorical: if the BJP is in trouble, it has itself to blame, and therefore, none but the party itself has to find out a way to regain the lost ground. So what should the BJP do now? It must change with time, as we have argued in this column in the past, so that its relevance to time and its demands is not lost. And change cannot happen without the will and courage to change one’s ideas and practices while still retaining the fundamentals that jell with time. Even the Sangh is changing with time, as Bhagwat said. For the BJP, the chief among its fundamentals ought now to be a basis to emerge as a modern right-of-centre force with new ideas of development. The party, and its agendas, must be acceptable to the youth. Its leadership must then be young, with a new vision of India. But does the RSS really mean what it says? This will define the BJP’s future. THE SENTINEL