Author: Kanchan Gupta
Publication: Rediff.com
Date: June 11, 2009
URL: http://news.rediff.com/column/2009/jun/11/kanchan-gupta-on-why-the-knives-are-out-in-the-bjp.htm
The blame-game has begun in the Bharatiya
Janata Party. Those who are directly responsible for the party's disastrous
electoral performance are desperately trying to blame others lest their role
comes under scrutiny.
The proverbial knives are out. On Wednesday
(June 10) evening the 'core group' of the BJP met at L K Advani's residence.
There is nothing called the 'core group.' Membership is extended (and/or withdrawn)
depending on whether the 'core group' is supposed to massage bruised egos,
indulge in collective hand-wringing, participate in self-flagellation, provide
for limited expression of contrarian views, or snuff out voices of dissent.
On Wednesday, the 'core group' met for a bit
of everything, so those who met were quite representative of the BJP as it
is today, which is like a fish that has begun to rot head downward. (When
we Bengalis buy fish, we check the gills; hence my choice of this metaphor.)
What was discussed at Wednesday's meeting
is really irrelevant and inconsequential. At the end of the meeting, everybody
decided to meet again. As always, no decisions were taken. So much for the
slogan, 'Determined Leader, Decisive Government.' It's not surprising that
voters were not persuaded by it.
Jaswant Singh has made bold to raise the three
'P's -- Prabandh, Parinam and Puraskar -- which should have engaged the party
leadership after the May electoral debacle, but shall never be discussed.
Meanwhile, Sudheendra Kulkarni, who undid
the BJP's election campaign in 2004 with the 'India Shining' slogan and fashioned
the 2009 campaign which has taken the BJP to a low of barely-above-100 mark,
has written an article for Tehelka, the magazine which tarred the NDA government,
causing it irreparable damage, and is now the favourite perch of those who
inhabit the BJP's inner courtyard, blaming all and sundry except those who
are to blame. (Anil Chawla, his classmate at IIT Bombay, has circulated an
'open letter' by way of a rejoinder to Sudheendra Kulkarni's article.)
Sudheendra Kulkarni has made the following
points:
* Everybody should own up for the party's
defeat, collectively and individually.
* Disunity among the party leaders contributed to its electoral failure.
* The Parivar (I wish he had shown courage by naming the RSS) hobbled the
campaign and made L K Advani look weak.
* Negativism ruined the BJP's chances.
* Hindutva is the real obstacle between victory and defeat.
* The BJP has failed to expand its 'limited' social base.
* Allies have been abandoned and new alliances haven't been forged.
Here are my responses:
* The moral responsibility for the defeat is entirely that of those who led
from the front. If they failed to enthuse voters, it is because they did not
come across as inspirational leaders. The reasons for the credibility-deficit
do not merit elaboration.
* Having abandoned the practice of collective leadership and placed individuals
above party, not to speak of promoting those who thrive on divisions, groupism
and factionalism, no purpose is served by pointing a finger at 'disunity'
at the top.
* The RSS -- as well as the greater Parivar -- did nothing to hobble the campaign.
The Sangh endorsed L K Advani as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, instructed
affiliate organisations to join the campaign, and made every effort to bolster
him through word and deed.
* Negativism was the core of the campaign fashioned by Sudheendra Kulkarni
and his team vested with over-riding powers. (They came up with a real election-winner:
After coming to power, L K Advani's government will gift a smart phone to
every BPL family.)
* Hindutva is the new bogeyman. So blame it for everything wrong under the
Sun. There's a problem though. Even if the BJP were to abandon Hindutva --
the Hindu ethos which once made the BJP stand out from others, the pride in
India's cultural heritage and civilisational identity, the unifying concept
of nationhood -- Muslims wouldn't vote for the party. Not even after reading
'Advaniji at a glance (in Urdu)' and finding that all mention of Vande Mataram
has been erased from the BJP Web site by the 'laptop brigade' which was supposed
to lead the party to a stunning victory, but instead led it to a humiliating
defeat. Fiction: Muslim disquiet with BJP can be resolved. Fact: Muslim hatred
of BJP is visceral. Problem: How do you work around it?
* The BJP's failure to expand its social base is directly linked to its Pavlovian
response to forging alliances. In every state the BJP has forged an alliance,
it has moved from nothingness to nothingness, and not strength to strength.
It began with Uttar Pradesh (The BSP gained
at the BJP's expense). It has been seen in Andhra Pradesh (The TDP used the
BJP's vote share, weakened the party and then abandoned it).
In Orissa, the BJD used the BJP to consolidate
its base and then cast it aside.
In West Bengal the TMC used the BJP, plundered
its organisational base and then denounced it as 'communal'.
In Punjab the BJP has suffered on account
of the Akali Dal's politics.
In Bihar we shall witness a repeat of all
this and more before the next assembly election when the JD-U dumps the BJP.
The best way to stop new leaders emerging
from the ranks (and thus posing a challenge to the entrenched leadership of
the BJP) is to stump the party in the states by forging alliances and forcing
local leaders to don sack cloth and ashes and become grovelling supplicants
in the courts of the allies.
Elections come and go but parties remain,
at least those who are in politics for more than power at any cost, now or
never.
The BJP's leadership is suffering from a disease
called 'last bus syndrome': If it can't catch this bus to power, then it will
never get to be in power.
I am tempted to recall what L K Advani once
told me, many years ago, before another general election: "As things
stand, we could win enough seats to come to power. But I often ask myself,
are we prepared for power?"
