BJP – A Sinking Ship?

An insight into the causes and the possibilities for the sinking ship of BJP

Just as it was trying to recover from the wounds of its debacle in the 15th Lok Sabha, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was struck by yet another crisis and this time of an even bigger magnitude. The controversy of the Jaswant Singh’s book titled – “Jinnah: India-partition, Independence” proved a Pandora’s Box for BJP, as it exposed the enormous amount of differences existing within the party, it re-opened the forgotten issues of the past, the Kandahar-hijack issue, and the BJP top-notch, L. K. Advani saying that he was ignorant of the same, questioned the credibility of his leadership. These developments are giving scepticism as to whether BJP is failing to continue as a powerful opposition in India’s political scene. The “party with a difference” now seems to be becoming a “party with differences”.

The Crisis
It all started with Jaswant Singh being expelled out of BJP because of his comments on Jinnah, and moreover about Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel being held equally responsible for the partition, in his book. Gujrat’s BJP CM, Narendra Modi imposed a ban on the book, soon followed by Jaswant Singh’s expulsion from the party. A senior leader who had served the party for more then 30 years was expelled with his 30-year old dedicated service forgotten in no time.

Post-expulsion, the party saw a series of allegations, pointing of fingers and blame games, which deepened and exposed the already existing cracks within the party leaderships. The already forgotten Kandahar-issue was raised again by the media. Jaswant was questioned and he obviously expressed his disgrace on his expulsion. Jaswant Singh maintained the Advani knew each and everything about Kandahar. Jaswant even went on to say that he lied for “Advaniji”. And now, the serious question of whether the “aspiring PM of BJP” lied to the people, kept the nation wondering.

Then there was Arun Shourie’s outburst on the BJP leadership. His famous comments referring the leadership as “Humpty-Dumpty” and “Alice in the Blunderland” made waves in the media. He urged the RSS leader Bhagwat, that RSS should take over BJP and carry out the repair-work for the party. There was yet another war of words between Shorie and BJP President, Rajnath Singh.

Amidst the ongoing Jaswant controversy and its post-events, there was another growing in parallel. Vasundhara Raje, being asked to quit as the leader of opposition in Rajastan, citing her failure to lead the party in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Defiant Raje, staged a rally with all her supporting MLAs against Rajnath in the state capital. Advani, in whose camp Raje was believed to be in, also snubbed her by refusing to meet her supporters. This showed yet another difference of opinion between the party leaderships.

The party is now has certainly pressed the panic button. The challenges before the party today are:

1. Going ahead with L. K. Advani as their Prime Ministerial candidate from now on, will always be a difficult proposition, with Advani weakening his character as a leader when he maintains his stand that he was ignorant about Kandahar. This remains a big blot on his image as a leader. Being a deputy-PM and claiming to be ignorant speaks questions about his leadership qualities. And if Jaswant Singh’s claims that Advani knew about the events are anywhere close to true, then the fact that did Advani lie to the public, comes to the fore.

2. Growing differences between the senior party leaderships. The Jaitley – Rajnath spat was well known. Now there are many more like Shourie – Rajnath, Raje – Rajnath, and perhaps many more behind the curtains.

3. Extensive repair work, with many key decisions to be made like change in leaderships, strategies so that it comes out well to project itself as one unit, and win the hearts and faith of majority of Indian voters, at the national level.

Hindutva V/s Secularism

The two major parties of Democratic India are separated by two major schools of thoughts, namely the Secularism and the Hindutva. However there is a considerable amount of doubt as to whether either of these parties have been able to follow their ideologies, true to its meaning.

What is Secularism?

The term secularism was created in 1846, by an English leader, George Jacob Holyoake. He explicitly described the term as:

“Secularism is that which seeks the development of the physical, moral, and intellectual nature of man to the highest possible point, as the immediate duty of life — which inculcates the practical sufficiency of natural morality apart from Atheism, Theism or the Bible — which selects as its methods of procedure the promotion of human improvement by material means, and proposes these positive agreements as the common bond of union, to all who would regulate life by reason and ennoble it by service."

The concept of secularism sees no mention anywhere the absence of religion. The idea was developed as a non-religious philosophy focused upon the needs and concerns of humanity.

Today, congress in the name of secularism, look to garner the minority votes, primarily, the Muslim. In the name of secularism, the congress offers extra sops, exemptions, reservations and privileges to minority communities. In course of doing this, the interests of the majority religion are far forgotten. The question to be asked here is, is this secularism in its true sense?

What is Hindutva?

Hindutva, is a term coined by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar or Veer Savarkar, in 1923. Hindutva is a term used to describe movements advocating the Hindu Nationalism.

Hindu Nationalism or Hindutva is referred to as expression of social and political thought, based on native spiritual and cultural traditions of India. The word “Hindu” here refers more to the “Nativity” of India, rather then the “Religion”. Hindutva, as some scholars argue, is better described as Hindu Polity.

The Hindutva holds a substantial relevance in the Indian history, when it helped form a distinctive identity, and provided a basis of questioning colonialism. It inspired the freedom movements against British rule based on armed struggle, coercive politics as well as non-violent protests. It also influenced social reforms and economic thinking of India.

Has BJP been able to follow or project itself as the follower of Hindutva in its true sense? BJP has never been able to clear its stand on Hindutva. It has not been able to explain the concept of Hindutva to the people of India, thus keeping the citizen of India confused about Hindutva. BJP should first be clear on its Hindutva stand, and its visions with Hindutva, and then come to open to the people of India. BJP’s success lies in whether and how they are able to explain the term Hindutva, and how it will (or rather how the BJP will take forward the idea of Hindutva) help the politics of India, which has along with Hindus, many other religions and diverse cultures.

The Rahul Gandhi Factor.

One of the major factors that led the UPA government to such a clear mandate in the recently held Lok Sabha elections was the Rahul Gandhi factor. This son of late congress leader and ex-Prime Minister of our country Rajiv Gandhi, was written off by political experts and opposition leaders as a novice in late nineties.

This dark horse, in 2009, emerged as the architect of the UPA’s victory in the lok sabha elections. He targeted the state of UP, as he knew wisely that winning UP should help the party to make up the numbers. He campaigned tirelessly in various streets of numerous villages across the state of UP. He reached out to the masses and the poor, came in direct contact with them, and showed them better future, without fragmenting them on the basis of caste and creed.

Rahul also went speaking to the youth, and about their aspirations. He showed his belief in many of the young leaders, and gave opportunity to various young leaders like Jitin Prasada, Ashok Tanwar, Bhanwar Jitendra, Shailendra Singh and many more.

While L. K. Advani was busy lashing out at Manmohan Singh as a weak Prime Minister, and Narendra Modi was hitting hard at Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka trio, Rahul was lauding the good developmental works by Nitish Kumar, despite him being a member of the opposition. Crediting the achievements of the opposition was something that was seen the first time in the history of Indian politics.

The effect of Rahul Gandhi saw the voters of UP boot out some of the dreaded gangsters. The youth was inspired to vote, and that helped UPA to come back to power. For majority of youth, it is the development that matters, which Rahul Gandhi did speak of.

When Rahul Gandhi was offered the prestigious position of the Prime Minister, he refused it saying that he wants to work for his party, and mainly against making politics a better place for the youngsters of India. He said that bridging the rich-poor gap too was more important to him then becoming a PM. This gave clear indications of his long-term vision for India and Indian Politics. In Rahul Gandhi, the youth and the people of India began to see a ray of hope and an emerging leader looking to clean all the debris of the Indian politics.

This however may be brushed away by the opposition as a political gimmick, but it certainly did the trick for UPA. Combating the Rahul Gandhi factor is a major challenge for the BJP, in its quest to regain its status in Indian politics.

BJP – The Road Ahead

BJP should kick off the repair work sooner or later, and sooner the better. What should the BJP be looking to do in order to come out strong from this present crisis, and emerge as a tough force to reckon with?

Leadership
Certainly, as the speculations are on, BJP will see a change of leadership soon. With the recent controversies and developments, projecting and continuing with L. K. Advani as the Prime Ministerial candidate may not gain much returns. The party has to look for its next Prime Ministerial candidate soon. The Prime Ministerial candidate should show a promise and vision for India. Prime focus of the leader should be to give the people a better India, with development of infrastructure, economy and national security as priorities.

The Gujrat CM, Narendra Modi may be considered as the next PM candidate, as he has shown a calibre to carry out substantial development in his state. He is one leader who always has an open arm for industrialists for setting their business in Gujrat. He can boast of many developmental works that he has triggered in Gujrat, which a lot of other CMs cannot.

BJP should also have a change in strategy of how the leadership present their campaigns. Narendra Modi’s campaigns speak more about “How Bad the Congress is”, or hitting out directly with harsh words against the Gandhi-trio. This sends a wrong message that BJP is apprehensive about the Gandhi-trio, and does more harm to BJP then good. Instead the campaign should be more visionary, with focus on BJP’s past achievements and its plan for the future.

Along with the change in the PM candidate, there is also a need in the change of Party leadership. The President-ship of the party should be given to someone who is a strategist, who can save the sinking Titanic of BJP back to the shore.

Bench-strength
BJP should build a bench-strength for the future. The party should show faith and make way to its younger leaders. Remember congress was in a similar mess that BJP now is, during the late nineties, with lot of differences within the party. But Rahul Gandhi built a bench-strength of youngsters that looked to be a promising and brought a fresh air in the party.

BJP should work on to nurture young leaders from various states in different aspects of Indian politics. Majority of the Indian voters today are in the age group of 25-40. For this age group development of India matters more, rather then Ram-Mandir and Ram-sethu. BJP should change with times and go with the winds.

Clearance on the Stand of Hindutva
BJP should come out clear on its stand on Hindutva, and cease to seem confused. The party has always maintained that it will stick to its policy and ideology of Hindutva. But time and again, it also resorts to secularism, claiming that BJP is also a secular party.

Also, as mentioned earlier, BJP’s success will lie into projecting the true idea of Hindutva, and its approach to carry forward Hindutva for the benefit of India. It should be able to explain to the people of India how Hindutva or Hindu polity will help run the nation. Because Hindutva forms the very basis of the ideology on which BJP is built. It should come clear on the same, and make the people of India too, clear about it.

A Vision for India
Last but not the least BJP should come out as a party with a vision. The BJP-led NDA government elected Dr. Abdul Kalam as the President of India, who in himself is a great visionary. This also proved to be in the favour of the NDA government, as it boosted its visionary image leaps and bounds.

When Rahul Gandhi spoke of “Making politics a better place for youngsters” and “Bridging the rich-poor gap”, he too showed the qualities of a vision for India. Instead of brushing off, BJP should take a lesson or two from this emerging leader.



We certainly cannot count off the party with over 100 seats in Lok Sabha, and which is in power in about 5 states of the country. To continue as force to reckon with, it will be interesting to see how BJP manages to come out of this crisis, which has hit real bad to the party itself, and also to the Indian politics. It needs to be seen how BJP now faces the challenge of salvaging this sinking ship of BJP, and then win the hearts and faith of the country again, and emerge as an option of good governance for India.

Going Bi-party

Multi-party politics and the alliance governments cobble up to give a shaky and unstable government that has always been a hindrance to the country's development. A possible way out of this political turmoil seems to be going bi-party.

21st Century India is an “evolving India”. India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world today, and is looked upon in high regard by the world along with China as most potential forces in the future, in terms of trade, economy, commerce and world politics. Having said that, even after 60 years of independence, India is still way behind the mark of being called a developed country. The nation is marred by a number of domestic problems like farmers committing suicides, villages with no access to electricity, poverty, draughts and floods and corruption. There have always been two contradicting facets of the country, and getting rid of other ugly facet, has been a challenge, on India’s path to be a developed country.

The path of development is never a smooth ride in India. This is largely because of the political turmoil that has been rampant in the country. The biggest problem India has been facing is a political consensus. In an era of alliances, the government in power is at the mercy of its smaller alliance partners. The so-called regional parties have been the king-makers and deciding factors in the formation of the central government. This has been the biggest hindrance to the country’s integrity, and a good development oriented and stable government.

It’s in the best interest of the country, that a full-fledged government comes to power. But given the current scenario, alliances seem to be inevitable. But again, alliances bring instabilities and clash of ideologies. What is the solution to this chaos? The question that arises here is do we need a change in our reforms?

Political Parties and the Constitution of India

The constitution of India states the Indian government to be a parliamentary government, and a federal system with a strong central government. India is a federal system, in which residual powers of legislation remain with the central government. The constitution provides a detailed list dividing up powers between central and state governments, along with a set of Directive Principles of State policy. The constitution of India, thus tries to clearly separate the central and the state government, and the central government is the supreme ruler of the country.

The charter of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of India inter alia guarantees freedom of association. Under Article 19(C), any group of Indian citizens can get together to form associations or unions of their choice subject to the laws of the land and reasonable restrictions in the interest of national security, etc.

The Election Commission maintains a list of political parties. Any association or group of people wishing to participate in the electoral process can register as a political party under the section 29A of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951. It is a startling fact that till date, a few hundred political parties are registered with the commission.

So far as the Election commission and the representation of People’s act are concerned, a party may be recognized as a “National Party” or a “State Party”. There is no provision of recognition of any party as a “Regional Party”.

Parties that secure a certain percentage of votes in a minimum number of states (presumably, 4 states) or a number of seats in parliament (exact figures unknown), can be recognized as a National party for the purpose of allotment of symbols.

To be recognized as a state party, it has to be existence in five years, have a certain number of members elected to the house of the people, or the state assembly, or a certain percentage of votes during the general elections.

Taking into consideration what the constitution says, only two parties, the Congress and the BJP qualify to be the genuine National Parties of India. However, the CPI and the CPI(M), have been confined to largely three states, West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. Despite this, these parties have been termed as National Parties. And it is also ridiculous to see that these very parties challenging the central government and threatening to withdraw support, in the recent political scenario.

The Loophole

We see that the constitution of India clearly separates the central and the state legislation. The central government reigns above the state governments, and is entitled to sanction grants through its developmental plans; the loophole lies in the conduction of the Lok-Sabha elections. There are in all 545 seats in the lok sabha, and any party in order to gain power has to win 50%, i.e. 272 seats. With the constitution allowing multi-parties to contest the election, it becomes a herculean task for any one national party to gain a full-fledged power. In the current scenario, national parties do not have influence in many states. This is where the state parties come into picture.

The state parties (or the regional parties as they are called), have strong influence in their respective states. In Tamilnadu, it’s the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the DMK. Andhra Pradesh also sees the influence of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), along with congress. In Punjab, it’s the Akali Dal that has a substantial say, while in the Jammu and Kashmir, it’s the National Conference. Other regional parties that have been in picture in the central elections are Biju Janata Dal (Orissa) and the Trinamool Congress (West Bengal).

The loophole in question lies in the fact that in the context of multi-party elections, most members of Parliament are elected with pluralities of the vote that amounts to less then a majority. As a result, political parties can gain a commanding position in the Parliament, without winning the support of a majority of the electorate. To site an example, lets say there are four parties involved in the elections, A, B, C and D. If Party C gets 40% of the total electoral votes, A gets 10%, B gets 30% and D gets 20%. Party C emerges clear winner, as it has won the most percentage of votes out of all other parties. But looking in other perspective, 60% of the electoral did not vote for the party that has come out as winner. Hence, it has won, without actually attaining a clear gross majority.

Also, because of multi-party elections of Lok Sabha, the role of the state parties becomes that of utmost importance. It is difficult for any single party to reach the magic figure of 272, and hence the National parties have to form alliances with the state-level parties to reach the magic figure, and attain power. Such parties then act as parties of brinkmanship, bluff and blackmail. The tenure of the government is devoted more towards the struggle of survival of power, and not the nation’s development.

We have experienced the instabilities and the toppling of governments, (both at central and state level). The BJP-led Vajpayee government was toppled by the AIADMK and the Trinamool Congress after a short stint of 13 months. The most recent example of the “smaller” parties playing blackmailers is the clash of the CPI and the CPI(M) with the Congress over the Indo-US nuke deal. The trend has been persistent in the past, and will continue to be persistent in the future.

What’s the way out?

One way to bring about a political stability in the country is to introduce a drastic change in our reforms, and bring the “Bi-party System” into existence. The constitution separates out the central and state legislations. Hence for starters, the Bi-party system can be implemented only for central elections. Any candidate wishing to participate in the Lok Sabha elections should participate as a candidate of either one of the 2 major “National Parties”. The state party candidature should not be allowed for the Lok Sabha elections. This will ensure that either of the party will attain an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha. The other national party will act as the opposition party, and the role of smaller political parties or the state-level parties or regional parties is confined purely to the state as their agenda is purely parochial. These parties can however be allowed to take part in the state assembly elections.

Another way of implementing the Bi-party system would be based on ideologies. Two major bodies may be separated out, purely on the basis of ideologies, say, “Conservatives” and the “Extremists”. All the parties / candidates with conservative views can be under a single banner, while the same goes with the extremists. This will result into an equal representation, and a full-fledged government with an integrated ideology.

A bi-party system will surely bring about welcome change in our present chaotic political scenario. There would be stability in the governments, and the representatives and the cabinet ministers will have a free-hand on the decisions that they are taking, and will not have to worry about the condemnation or rejections from the fellow alliance partners. The politics of blackmail will come to an end for good.

However, it needs to be seen how receptive the parties like the CPI and CPI (M) and the likes of DMK, AIADMK or TDP towards the idea of Bi-Party. These parties may well criticize this idea as their significance at the central politics will be then nil. But for the nation’s interest, the two major national parties should accept the legitimacy and relevance of each other, and endorse the idea of Bi-party.

Bi-party system will bring the much required stability in our politics, and stability will bring development. This will be a good first step in our road to realize the ambitious dream that our former President Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam dared to dream of… a developed India by the year 2020.