April 13, 1998

The party will use Parivar links to expand its base and retain an identity distinct from the Government.

By Saba Naqvi Bhaumik

The Government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee may be grappling with the dynamics of running a coalition with a wafer-thin majority. But the BJP has a somewhat clearer agenda: to seize the opportunity to expand its new bases in the south and east, consolidate its holdings in the north and west and control levers of power by placing trusted men in vital posts. It is an agenda that has little to do with the hydra-headed alliance Government. An agenda that does not compromise on the party's fundamentals to which partymen will again pledge themselves on the BJP's 18th birthday on April 6. It is an agenda that makes it crystal clear that unlike the Congress, the BJP does not believe in merging its identity with the Government.

The man who will, in all likelihood, lead the party into its post-government formation phase of growth and succeed L.K. Advani as BJP president is the low-profile grassroots RSS full-timer, 76-year-old Kushabhau Thakre. The fact that consensus is building around Thakre to take over in early May indicates the importance given to organisational growth by the BJP. Thakre is not the sort of leader who engages in realpolitik. On the contrary, right through the long-drawn-out phase of government formation, Thakre could be found in his modest living quarters attached to the BJP's headquarters giving a sympathetic ear to workers' complaints and requests. Thakre is a formidable organisation man with strong links to the various Sangh Parivar outlets. If he is ultimately chosen, it will be a clear sign that the BJP will remain firmly moored to its parent organisation in spite of all the parliamentary rhetoric about independence.

Even Vajpayee, who had reservations earlier, now appears to have reconciled to Thakre's elevation. As a senior leader puts it: "The priority is growth. Having our government will assist growth and for this an organisation man must lead." With many of the existing office-bearers now in the Council of Ministers, the new president will have to find new apparatchiks.

Thakre, meanwhile, believes that the priority is to change the BJP's orientation from opposition to having a stake in the system. At the same time, he says: "It is a cardinal principle with us that the party must not depend on government." There is also an almost quaint concern among the old-timers about power corrupting the party. They point to the spectacle of junior party functionaries hanging around Vajpayee's residence till they were politely snubbed. One exasperated senior leader points to the lobbying for posts and declares: "Someone just came and informed me that in every district there are hundreds of jobs to which party workers can now be appointed. But I wonder whether this sort of trend could have led to the reverses in Maharashtra and Rajasthan."

General Secretary K.N. Govindacharya also points to the need for introspection on these issues. "There is no doubt that a friendly government can create the right atmospherics for our growth. But a government creates its own new problems. And there is no evidence that BJP's growth has been linked to governance." And though Govindacharya believes that only 15 per cent of the members of the entire Sangh Parivar are as yet affected by the syndrome of wanting a share of the power, he is candid enough to admit: "We are yet to comprehend the dynamics of power, the scope of political power for social transformation."

How then does a party like the BJP go about systematically building its base? Take Thakre who just left for a trip to the North-east, another vital growth area for the BJP. He will meet party workers, monitor the organisation and try to make new recruits. That there is a government in Delhi is expected to generate greater enthusiasm for joining the BJP. When the next election comes round, a stronger apparatus will be in place. Thakre also talks of utilising party workers to create an alternative machinery for collecting information for the Government, a system perfected by the CPI(M) in West Bengal. "Since bureaucracy can be so out of touch, our workers must act as the eyes and ears of the Government." General secretary Venkaiah Naidu is more blunt: "We have been trained as opposition activists. For the first time we will taste power. Workers will have to maximise this benefit." But Naidu concludes dramatically: "None of us will sacrifice ideology. We'd rather sacrifice ourselves!" The challenge now would be for the party to ensure that this purist commitment to ideology does not place it on an adversarial course with the Vajpayee Government.

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