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Faction-ridden party in search of a cause |
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B.I. Saini
The two-day meeting of the BJP national executive in New Delhi last week has not solved any of the problems the party is facing, but only added to the crisis in the faction-ridden saffronite outfit. On one hand, the national executive meeting witnessed an attempt by former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, who has been at the helm of affairs of the BJP for almost two decades, his most singular contribution being the raking up of the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid issue, to re-establish his relevance, which was eroded when the parent organisation, the RSS, virtually threw him out of the party president’s chair following his controversial remarks on Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s “secular credentials.” On the other hand, Rajnath Singh, chosen by the RSS to succeed Advani as party president was hard put to explain the party’s defeat in Uttar Pradesh and Goa Assembly polls earlier this year.
The issue raised by Advani to needle Rajnath Singh at the national executive meeting was the lack of introspection on what caused the party’s defeat in the Uttar Pradesh elections. Significantly, on the first day of the meeting, the BJP appeared to be blaming everyone, but itself, for the disaster suffered by the party in Uttar Pradesh. The party attributed the results to what it called “an overwhelming polarisation of votes against the Samajwadi Party” while claiming that the setback was a one time aberration and that the BJP remained relevant in UP politics. The party did not allow leaders to speak on their own states - Murli Manohar Joshi and Kalyan Singh were not allowed to discuss the UP results - while state unit chief Kesari Nath Tripathi said that the defeat was because of “external” factors. The intention obviously was to avert the possibility of Rajnath Singh being put on the mat for the party’s defeat in his home state.
But the party leadership’s efforts to sweep the defeat in Uttar Pradesh under the carpet came to nought at the concluding session of the executive meeting on Tuesday, June 26, when L.K. Advani mounted a veiled but scathing attack on Rajnath Singh’s handling of the UP campaign. He said the massive defeat in Uttar Pradesh was a serious setback for the party and called for ‘honest introspection’ and self-critical analysis of the debacle. Advani advised the party president to come out with urgent corrective measures and cautioned against rift saying “the inner party situation in many states needs urgent attention and corrective action.” Advani asked: “Why did the BJP fail to project itself as the most credible alternative to the incumbent government of the Samajwdi Party ?”
Advani’s remarks forced Rajnath Singh to back-track and welcome the senior leader’s advice for drawing up corrective measures in the party. He said, “Advani’s remarks are aimed at strengthening the party. I welcome them whole-heartedly.”
Faced with the failure to revive itself in the country’s most populous state, the BJP has been trying to get hold of some issue or the other to corner the UPA Government headed by Dr. Manmohan Singh. The UPA’s choice of Pratibha Patil as its nominee for the Presidentship has come in handy for the BJP as several cases of her alleged involvement in unsavoury scams have come to light. She may not be personally involved in the scams, but the alleged connection of her brother and husband in some of the cases has been used by the BJP to project her as a “tainted” candidate for the presidency. The BJP’s game is, however, unlikely to succeed and there is very little doubt about Pratibha Patil’s victory in the Presidential election, especially in the context of the Third Front’s decision not t support either the UPA candidate or the”independent” Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who is being supported by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The BJP has also received a jolt with its oldest ally in the NDA, the Shiv Sena deciding to support Pratibha Patil as she would be the first woman and Maharashtrian to enter the portals of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The BJP has been trying to raise issues like Women’s Reservation Bill and Ram Setu to get back its vote-bank. The party has decided that 33 per cent party positions would be allotted to women at all levels. Perhaps, it is a belated attempt to counter the Congress move in sponsoring a woman for the Presidentship. On the Ram Setu issue, the party has demanded that the Sethu Samudaram project be re-aligned to save the ancient bridge now under the sea. It claims that Ram Setu is not a myth, but observers see it as another link in the chain going back to the BJP’s position on the on the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid issue. The party does not appear to be in a mood to realise that after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, such matters are not getting any response from the people, as evident in its declining fortunes in Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP is very good at projecting its viewpoint on various issues, even though there may not be much of substance in reality. The India Shining campaign of 2004 is a “shining” example of that. The party has now adopted the same approach in projecting the UPA candidate for the Presidency being “tainted.” With the Congress promising to return the compliment, the Presidential election is set to become the most bitterly fought battle for the Presidency, even though there is not much doubt about the outcome.
There is need for the BJP to reinvent itself, if it is to make a credible attempt to regain power at the Centre in 2009, when Lok Sabha elections are due. Advani’s latest move indicates that he continues to fancy his chance of becoming Prime Minister. His remark some time back that the leader of the Opposition in a democratic set up is the shadow Prime Minister and can legitimately expect to assume that office if the party wins at the hustings, is a clear pointer. Advani’s remark that the party should prepare itself for the 2009 general elections indicates that he is in favour of a change of leadership before the elections. He wants to reposition himself on the centre-stage in the BJP so that he could be projected as the prime-ministerial candidate ahead of the elections. But going by the divisions in the BJP’s top leadership, the prospects of the party regaining power at the Centre do not appear to be very bright as of now.
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