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Unending BJP burlesque

Unending BJP burlesque

Author: Editorial
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: April 22, 2005
URL: http://www.samachar.com/features/220405-editorial.html

It is a sign of disarray in the BJP that the latest controversy triggered by remarks of RSS Chief K. S. Sudharshan has sown further seeds of confusion and discord in the party. Like a headless chicken, the top leadership of the party seems to be moving in circles without knowing how to settle the issue. On the face of it, what the RSS chief said in a television interview was wholly unexceptionable.

After all, both Vajpayee and Advani are well past their sell-by date and should be contemplating retirement rather than an active future in the rough and tumble of Indian politics. But the two have shown no inclination to step down in favour of younger colleagues so that the party could attract fresh blood and renew itself after its surprise defeat in the last parliamentary election. That India is a young country with more than two-thirds of the population below the age of 35 ought to have persuaded the BJP duo to pass on the baton to the second rung leaders in the party.

However having taken a conscious decision to persist with Advani as the party president, it was expected that everyone would try and put the controversy over Sudharshan's remarks behind him. But Vajpayee re-ignited the controversy by his cryptic remarks on Tuesday, suggesting that Advani should pay heed to the retirement advice of the RSS chief.. ( Of course, while endorsing Sudarshan's remarks he side-stepped criticism of his foster son-in-law and of his chief aide, Brajesh Mishra.

Earlier in Pune his lament that he feared ignominy rather than death too smacked of a lot of artifice and hypocrisy given that he full well knew what both the above-named gentlemen were up to when he was PM). Typically, Vajpayee's remarks led to another bout of internal bickering in the party. Now it was Sudharshan offering salve on Vajpayee's wounds, conceding that his government had indeed done some good things.

Meanwhile, the saffron sanyasin joined the fray, inviting Vajpayee to team up with her since both of them had plenty of time on their hands. The latest BJP burlesque climaxed on Wednesday evening with the party issuing a terse statement ruling out any change at the top. Typically, Vajpayee flip-flopped to issue a brief statement blaming the media for misinterpreting his remarks and said that they all wanted Advani to `steer the party in future too' whatever that may mean.

The turmoil in the main opposition party only spotlighted the failure of senior leaders to work in a cohesive manner. Quite aside from the differences between Vajpayee and Advani, even the second and third rung leadership of the party is woefully divided. No longer are they inspired by ideology and ideals. Not unlike their Congress counterparts, they too are in it for power and pelf. Some seek power and money both; others seek only power while some seek only money.

But no-one comes across putting the interests of the party ahead of their own. Not long ago the BJP was indeed `a party with a difference' insofar as its leaders and cadres were dedicated to a cause and were willing to make sacrifices to achieve it. Now, they are dedicated to themselves and use the party to advance their own selfish ends.

Even the mother organisation of the Sangh parivar, RSS, has suffered a huge dilution in its character with its leaders showing a marked preference for worldly gains over ideological pursuits. A section of the RSS leadership had come to enjoy a sense of power when the BJP-led coalition was in power in New Delhi. Since it provides the manpower without which the BJP cannot expect to do well in elections, the RSS might be justified in wanting to have a say in the affairs of the BJP, especially when the latter seems unable to set its own house in order. Sudharshan's only fault was that he said what he said in public, but what he said was most relevant to the condition of the BJP and its leadership.
 


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