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COVER STORY: NDA
BJP
Old Hype
There are certain words in the English language
that acquire very distinct meanings when used by political parties in
India. The Left has its own vocabulary that stems from Marxist dogma;
Congressmen are unduly fond of referring to "adjustment", by
which is meant accommodation or patronage; and in the BJP, the term "emotional"
is bandied about quite freely.
"Our workers are very emotional,"
said BJP General Secretary Narendra Modi, reacting to the string of events
that led to the resignation of party president Bangaru Laxman and the
appointment of Jana Krishnamurthy as acting president. Modi was referring
to a common BJP trait of utmost exhilaration when the going is good and
complete despondency when the party goes against its own instincts.
For the past few months, the BJP has indeed turned
very "emotional", a euphemism for being despondent. It has stomached
the cease-fire in Kashmir, which offends its natural preference for uncompromising
opposition to separatism. It has quietly digested the prime minister's
"musings" from Kerala that suggested the Ayodhya movement had
turned roguish. And now,
it has had to suffer the ignominy of its president caught on
camera accepting a bribe.
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SAFE BET: Krishnamurthy
(right) won't rock the boat
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The mood is downcast but simultaneously tinged
with a small measure of relief. The appointment of Laxman, a Dalit, was
an important step in the party's attempt to expand its social constituency.
Unfortunately, Laxman failed to live up to these expectations. There was
disquiet over Laxman's priorities. The party chief, it seemed, was inordinately
interested in the Congress game of "adjustment", a process that
led to too many ministers receiving too many requests from him. His meetings
with Vajpayee were inevitably accompanied by a sheaf of requests for transfers,
postings and other favours.
Yet, Laxman was the party president and concerns
over his style were kept under wraps by the BJP out of a sense of fierce
corporate loyalty. For the BJP, the president's is not a decorative post.
Its importance has been determined by those who occupied the post previously-Vajpayee,
Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Kushabhau Thakre. Which is why the inglorious
departure of Laxman has shattered the party's morale, an ominous development
in view of the coming assembly elections.
It required the intervention of Advani to switch
on the life-support systems. The home minister visited the party headquarters
on March 14 to "talk up" the office-bearers. He spoke to the
parliamentary party about countering the opposition aggression with counter-aggression.
He held a series of meetings at his North Block office, involving veterans
like Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Thakre, to chalk out a salvage strategy.
Most important, he encouraged the self-initiative of a group of young
ministers that included Pramod Mahajan, Ananth Kumar, M. Venkaiah Naidu
and Arun Jaitley.
These were small steps, given the problems the
party has on its hands. In Bihar, the scandal has crippled the anti-Laloo
Yadav offensive that was heading towards a climax; in West Bengal, the
party is clueless after Mamata unilaterally terminated her alliance; and
in Assam, its hopes of an impressive showing have suffered.
To party veterans, the problem is more long
term. They feel the party has departed from its core values and the present
crisis is an outcome of this deviation. "We gave up Ayodhya, Article
370 and uniform civil code. What are we left with?" asks a party
MP. "Everything," retorts Thakre, "as long as we don't
lose sight of the fundamentals."
"Fundamentals" is a loaded term that
opens up possibilities of the BJP falling back on the true faith. After
the recent crisis, this can't be discounted. The BJP has once again started
churning.
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