The crisis in the BJP should be seen from a broader perspective. All the parties that failed to perform as per expectations in the last elections are engaged in brainstorming exercises
The on-going crisis in the biggest political outfit of the saffron brigade, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), may be an internal matter of the party. But it brings to the fore some characteristics of Indian political parties as well as the basics of democracy and social system: that change of ideology and leadership as per political pulls and pressure is inevitable and unavoidable considering the need and expectations of every generation. This is happening in the BJP and other outfits of the Sangh Parivar.
In fact, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat recently told reporters at a rare press conference that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is changing with times and would adopt new technology to reach out to more people, and that the organization is evolving after a lot of new initiatives being taken. Asked about the participation of women in the Sangh activities, Bhagwat said the RSS has a women’s wing, Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, with 5,000 shakas and both work together.
The present crisis in the BJP is probably worse because the discontent this time round is not directed against any individual or over any profound stand-alone ideological issue. A much larger, systemic crisis has today come to grip the BJP since its defeat in the general elections.
As has always been the case with the BJP when rattled by internecine infighting, it has turned to the RSS for relief, as the party believes that the RSS would offer a way out. It is with this optimism that senior party leaders were engaged in a number of confabulations with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in recent times. Bhagwat himself raised hopes in the party saying the BJP ‘‘will rise from the ashes’’. The RSS chief’s press conference and his subsequent role in sorting out the problems in the BJP have come in for praise, especially with his remark that the tears in the eyes of BJP workers moved him and he was pained by the state of affairs. He said that the grassroots workers would take the party back to its glorious days. Bhagwat is apparently engaged in completing the unfinished task of the BJP in its effort to rejuvenate itself following its electoral defeat.
However, the change of leadership and the end of Advani-Rajnath era looks eminent this time though it is not clear who will take the guard. But once again the duel of Team Advani vs Team Vajpayee came to the forefront. The pro-Vajpayee faction of the saffron party — Jaswant Singh, Arun Shourie, Brajesh Mishra and Yashwant Sinha — has a common cause: to oust Advani. And their Brahmastra is the Kandahar hijacking episode and successive election defeats under Advani’s leadership. So there seems to be a wide consensus in Sangh and BJP circles that Advani could now, in consultation with RSS, work out a plan to facilitate a change of guard. The RSS has subtly driven home the point while forcefully arguing that the veterans must be part of the changes that are expected to take place in the BJP’s parliamentary and organizational structure.
All these highlight one important fact: that the BJP is changing. The new generation leadership of the party wants to take guard and evolve new policies and programmes to be relevant in the present-day Indian politics. Importantly, this includes the BJP’s relations with the RSS, VHP and other organizations of the Sangh Parivar. But this is not anything new with the party as it came a long way and made radical changes in its policy since its bitter experience of remaining in power for 13 days.
The compulsion of the BJP to form a coalition mainly with anti-Congress, secular and regional political parties brought about that change for the sake of power politics that broadened the distance between the BJP and organizations like the VHP. Though there is nothing new about differences of opinion between the BJP and other Hindutva groups, the rift has serious implications considering poll politics. The VHP leaders blame the BJP for not fulfilling its promise to construct a Ram temple in Ayodhya, abrogate Article 370 and put in place a uniform civil code, thus annoying the party’s Hindu vote bank, particularly in the Hindi heartland.
But it also true that the BJP is not giving up. It has categorically rejected the VHP demand that the party seek a fresh mandate from people if it is unable to bring in legislation for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. It has said several times that the legislation route is one of the options available to resolve the dispute but other constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) cannot agree to it. The blame game between the BJP and the other outfits of the Sangh was high when the NDA was in power. On several occasions after the demolition of the Babri mosque, BJP politicians said that kar sewaks had demolished the mosque, while the kar sewaks charged that the politicians had told them to do so. Former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh said it is BJP leaders who must bear the responsibility for having hatched a “deep and secret” conspiracy for the mosque demolition. This created anguish among the VHP leadership: that the BJP not only failed to keep its promise of building Ram temple due the so-called coalition compulsion, but the present leadership of the party that leads the NDA has also obviously no intention to do so in the future for the cause of the Hindu community. Thus it is clear that the non-political organizations of the saffron brigade, particularly the VHP, are disillusioned with the BJP and have no expectations from the party.
The crisis in the BJP should be seen from a broader perspective. At present all the political parties that failed to perform as per expectations in the general elections are engaged in a brainstorming exercise somehow or other. The demand for leadership change or ideological shift is gaining momentum in the Left Front, SP, BSP, TDP and various components of the NDA. It will not be irrelevant to point out the turmoil in the Congress party when Sitaram Kesari was its president as well as due to the formation of parties like NCP and TMC at the initial stage of Sonia Gandhi’s political career that continued up to 2004. Yet the party returned to power by accepting the reality of coalition politics and things got settled. So this happens in politics. Who can deny the reality that there are always sharers of success? Hence the ideological shift both in the BJP and in the other components of the Sangh Parivar is a manifestation of the reality that the saffron brigade is going through a transitional phase that requires time to get settled. Till then let us see what happens.
Shibdas Bhattacharjee
(The writer is a freelancer based in Halakura, Dhubri) THE SENTINEL
The on-going crisis in the biggest political outfit of the saffron brigade, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), may be an internal matter of the party. But it brings to the fore some characteristics of Indian political parties as well as the basics of democracy and social system: that change of ideology and leadership as per political pulls and pressure is inevitable and unavoidable considering the need and expectations of every generation. This is happening in the BJP and other outfits of the Sangh Parivar.
In fact, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat recently told reporters at a rare press conference that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is changing with times and would adopt new technology to reach out to more people, and that the organization is evolving after a lot of new initiatives being taken. Asked about the participation of women in the Sangh activities, Bhagwat said the RSS has a women’s wing, Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, with 5,000 shakas and both work together.
The present crisis in the BJP is probably worse because the discontent this time round is not directed against any individual or over any profound stand-alone ideological issue. A much larger, systemic crisis has today come to grip the BJP since its defeat in the general elections.
As has always been the case with the BJP when rattled by internecine infighting, it has turned to the RSS for relief, as the party believes that the RSS would offer a way out. It is with this optimism that senior party leaders were engaged in a number of confabulations with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in recent times. Bhagwat himself raised hopes in the party saying the BJP ‘‘will rise from the ashes’’. The RSS chief’s press conference and his subsequent role in sorting out the problems in the BJP have come in for praise, especially with his remark that the tears in the eyes of BJP workers moved him and he was pained by the state of affairs. He said that the grassroots workers would take the party back to its glorious days. Bhagwat is apparently engaged in completing the unfinished task of the BJP in its effort to rejuvenate itself following its electoral defeat.
However, the change of leadership and the end of Advani-Rajnath era looks eminent this time though it is not clear who will take the guard. But once again the duel of Team Advani vs Team Vajpayee came to the forefront. The pro-Vajpayee faction of the saffron party — Jaswant Singh, Arun Shourie, Brajesh Mishra and Yashwant Sinha — has a common cause: to oust Advani. And their Brahmastra is the Kandahar hijacking episode and successive election defeats under Advani’s leadership. So there seems to be a wide consensus in Sangh and BJP circles that Advani could now, in consultation with RSS, work out a plan to facilitate a change of guard. The RSS has subtly driven home the point while forcefully arguing that the veterans must be part of the changes that are expected to take place in the BJP’s parliamentary and organizational structure.
All these highlight one important fact: that the BJP is changing. The new generation leadership of the party wants to take guard and evolve new policies and programmes to be relevant in the present-day Indian politics. Importantly, this includes the BJP’s relations with the RSS, VHP and other organizations of the Sangh Parivar. But this is not anything new with the party as it came a long way and made radical changes in its policy since its bitter experience of remaining in power for 13 days.
The compulsion of the BJP to form a coalition mainly with anti-Congress, secular and regional political parties brought about that change for the sake of power politics that broadened the distance between the BJP and organizations like the VHP. Though there is nothing new about differences of opinion between the BJP and other Hindutva groups, the rift has serious implications considering poll politics. The VHP leaders blame the BJP for not fulfilling its promise to construct a Ram temple in Ayodhya, abrogate Article 370 and put in place a uniform civil code, thus annoying the party’s Hindu vote bank, particularly in the Hindi heartland.
But it also true that the BJP is not giving up. It has categorically rejected the VHP demand that the party seek a fresh mandate from people if it is unable to bring in legislation for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. It has said several times that the legislation route is one of the options available to resolve the dispute but other constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) cannot agree to it. The blame game between the BJP and the other outfits of the Sangh was high when the NDA was in power. On several occasions after the demolition of the Babri mosque, BJP politicians said that kar sewaks had demolished the mosque, while the kar sewaks charged that the politicians had told them to do so. Former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh said it is BJP leaders who must bear the responsibility for having hatched a “deep and secret” conspiracy for the mosque demolition. This created anguish among the VHP leadership: that the BJP not only failed to keep its promise of building Ram temple due the so-called coalition compulsion, but the present leadership of the party that leads the NDA has also obviously no intention to do so in the future for the cause of the Hindu community. Thus it is clear that the non-political organizations of the saffron brigade, particularly the VHP, are disillusioned with the BJP and have no expectations from the party.
The crisis in the BJP should be seen from a broader perspective. At present all the political parties that failed to perform as per expectations in the general elections are engaged in a brainstorming exercise somehow or other. The demand for leadership change or ideological shift is gaining momentum in the Left Front, SP, BSP, TDP and various components of the NDA. It will not be irrelevant to point out the turmoil in the Congress party when Sitaram Kesari was its president as well as due to the formation of parties like NCP and TMC at the initial stage of Sonia Gandhi’s political career that continued up to 2004. Yet the party returned to power by accepting the reality of coalition politics and things got settled. So this happens in politics. Who can deny the reality that there are always sharers of success? Hence the ideological shift both in the BJP and in the other components of the Sangh Parivar is a manifestation of the reality that the saffron brigade is going through a transitional phase that requires time to get settled. Till then let us see what happens.
Shibdas Bhattacharjee
(The writer is a freelancer based in Halakura, Dhubri) THE SENTINEL
No comments:
Post a Comment