HVK Archives: Ebb tide for saffron lobby
Ebb tide for saffron lobby - The Indian Express
Amulya Ganguli
()
17 October 1996
Title : Ebb tide for saffron lobby
Author : Amulya Ganguli
Publication : The Indian Express
Date : October 17, 1996
The first sign that the BJP was no longer as happily
placed as before was discernible in the Lok Sabha poll in
which the party's share of the vote did not move up from
what it was five years ago - 20 per cent. But, delighted
by its emergence as the largest group in Parliament and
by the impact of Atal Behari Vajpayee's oratory in the
House, the BJP chose to ignore this telltale evidence.
Instead, it concentrated on propagating the line that it
had been cheated out of power by a scheming group of
politicians united by nothing other than a shared anti-
pathy towards the BJP. The party was convinced that it
had won the semi-final and that victory in the final was
just one election away, to be held as soon as the frac-
tious UF fell apart.
The Uttar Pradesh contest was to be the preparation for
the final. Success in this crucial State, of which the
BJP was certain because of the division among its oppon-
ents, would hasten the UF's demise, paving the way for
the saffron flag to reach the portals of power in the
national Capital. But its fond hopes have been belied by
the dramatic drop in the BJP's number of seats which may
affect its voting percentage as well. Between 1991 and
1996, it rose from 32.8 per cent to 33.5 in UP, but it
may not be too far off the mark to suggest that the
Hindutva tide is beginning to turn even in the State of
Ram Janmabhoomi, the BJP's trump card at one time.
The setback in UP has been compounded by the BJP's unsat-
isfactory performance in the Madhya Pradesh by-elections.
Nor have these reverses been adequately compensated by
the party's ability to hold its ground in Rajasthan and
Gujarat and secure a toehold in Orissa. What is more,
the gains made by its ally, the Samta Party, in Bihar and
the setbacks suffered by the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra are
likely to introduce new equations in these partnerships
which may not be to the sangh parivar's liking.
Whether the retreat is taking place at the all-India
level cannot be said for certain but, in addition to the
fact of the BJP having marked time at 20 per cent for
five years, what has also to be considered is the change
in the circumstances which had helped its earlier growth.
It has to be remembered that till 1989, the BJP generally
fought the elections in the company of other non-Congress
parties and its growth was fairly consistent. The first
election it fought alone was in 1991 and since then it
has stopped growing.
The primary reason for its earlier accretion of strength
is not far to seek. Apart from utilising the widely
prevalent anti-Congress sentiments, the BJP was also
hailed as a disciplined organisation. Then, the temple
plank helped it to surge ahead. Now, all these factors
have lost their earlier appeal. The Congress is not only
less untouchable at present, the faint stirrings within
it under Sitaram Kesri denote an awareness of the need to
cleanse its corrupt image. If it manages to make a
beginning in accomplishing this admittedly superhuman
task, the Congress can hope to start building on its
nationwide 28 per cent vote bank, still higher than that
of all other parties.
The BJP's reputation for discipline has suffered as its
proximity to power made more and more time-servers jump
on to its bandwagon. But it is the party's temple cam-
paign which seems to have caused the most political
problems for it. If the 13-day Vajpayee Government
failed to secure any support in Parliament, it is because
this particular plank was recognised as the focal point
of a revivalist programme which runs counter to the
country's multicultural heritage to which all parties
outside the Hindutva brigade subscribe.
If it was simply a question of building a temple in place
of the demolished mosque, the BJP may have been able to
gather much wider support. But those who do not accept
the majoritarian saffron formula have little difficulty
in seeing the temple programme as a thin cover for the
sangh parivar's anti-minority philosophy. The cruder
version of this world-view is propagated by the two
virulent parivar outfits - the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and
the Bajrang Dal - but essentially there is little dif-
ference between the provocative acts and utterances of
these two and the BJP's theory of "cultural nationalism".
This phrase is shorthand for the primacy of Hindu culture
at the expense of the others and implies that only Hindus
are nationalists while the patriotism of the others is
suspect.
The BJP's tub-thumping nationalism may have boosted its
position, but it is possible that the dangers of its
xenophobic approach are gradually beginning to be appre-
ciated. What is more, the party's sudden upsurge of
devotion for Ram may have also started fuelling the
suspicion that its purpose is less spiritual than politi-
cal. In all the manifestos of the Jan Sangh-BJP from the
time of independence to 1989, the great urgency of the
need to build a Rain temple in Ayodhya never found a
mention. Even when the two foremost leaders of the Jan
Sangh - L. K. Advani and Vajpayee were important min-
isters at the Centre between 1977 and 1979, they uttered
not a word about building the temple.
If the Babri masjid was such a symbol of slavery and if a
Ram temple at that very spot was the only way the nation-
al spirit could be revived, then these two stalwarts
would have been expected to make this point time and
again both when they were in the Opposition and in the
government. But it was only after the crushing 1984
defeat that the BJP seemed to have woken up to the need
for an emotional issue. The party did find one in the
Ayodhya temple and made good use of it. But now the
principle of diminishing returns has begun to operate.
First, its insincerity has become apparent and, secondly,
the aggressive anti-minority outlook has come up against
the age-old tolerance of Hinduism. When the BJP says
that India is secular because of the Hindus, it is abso-
lutely right. But, for that very reason, it should
realise that its own distorted version of the great
religion has no future in this country. Hindus are
perhaps the only people who pray with total devotion in
all places of worship, whether a temple or church or
mosque or gurdwara or synagogue. For a Hindu, God re-
sides everywhere and so the demolition of a house of
prayer is a sacrilegious act.
In targeting mosques to make a political point, the BJP
has made a serious mistake, which will become more evi-
dent as the other factors which propelled it forward,
including the Congress's decline, lose their validity.
As its fair weather friends drift away, the party will be
reduced to its original core group of supporters and
return to the periphery of Indian politics which is its
natural place. The party can be sure of the loyalty of
this group, for every community has its share of narrow-
minded individuals. By a strange quirk, the ultra-na-
tionalist parties of Jean-Marie Le Pen in France and of
Necmettin Erbakan in Turkey also secured around 20 per
cent of the votes in the two countries. But the BJP's
percentage at the national level will be lower if the UP
results are seen as representing a trend.
The only way out for the BJP is to return to the non-
Congress camp or form a camp of its own, of which,it has
made a beginning by aligning with Shiv Sena, Samta Party
and the Haryana Vikas Party. But they are too peripheral
to be of much solace. The party has gone too far along
the revivalist road to be able to find worthwhile allies.
The manner in which the Vajpayee government was shunned
was evidence enough of its loneliness. And if it changes
direction too abruptly, opting for moderation, it will
lose the support of its core group which will look for
another ultra-rightist party.
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