NEW DELHI - India's largest opposition party, the battered and bruised Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), has initiated an organizational makeover in the hopes of
good tidings in the new year.
The party's constitution has been amended and its octogenarian president and
erstwhile prime ministerial aspirant, Lal Krishna Advani, has been re-inducted
as parliamentary board chairman. His role will now be to mentor young BJP
parliamentarians. Three senior members in their 50s - Sushma Swaraj, Arun
Jailtley and Venkaiah Naidu - have been given key leadership positions, while
Nitin Gadkari, a Brahmin politician, has been anointed president.
The BJP's transition was long overdue. Its abysmal showing in the general
elections in May was followed by a series of lackluster
performances in state elections. Bitter feuding among its senior leaders, all
clamoring for top party posts, further damaged the beleaguered party's image.
This fractiousness led the party's hardliner wing - the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh or RSS - to step in to take charge, with the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat,
calling for a "generational shift" in the leadership.
With a new lineup in place - Advani as a patriarchal mentor and Swaraj and
Jaitley as the new torchbearers of opposition in the upper and lower houses
respectively - the party has high hopes for revitalization. With "Next Gen"
professionals like Swaraj and Jaitley in the saddle, the party also has
ambitions to connect better with educated middle-class voters who cannot
identify with the RSS's Hindutva fundamentalism.
Be that as it may, political analysts see the changes as fraught with
contradictions. For instance, while deserving and senior leaders moving up
within the hierarchical structure augurs well, the continuing hold of the RSS
doesn't.
Moreover, for the party to augment its pan-India footprint, in keeping with its
image as a national party, its new president, Gadkari, will have to transcend
his regional profile. The portly Brahmin is scarcely known outside his native
Maharashtra.
However, despite failing to dislodge the incumbent Congress-led government,
which had been in the saddle for a decade, Gadkari is respected locally as a
low-key and disciplined RSS soldier. This enables him to enjoy the blessings of
Bhagwat - a fellow Brahmin from Maharashtra - who abhors personalized politics.
Be that as it may, the moot question is: will these top-level changes infuse
fresh life into the BJP, a party that has tasted success in Delhi and which has
a history of bouncing back with vigor each time its chips are down? Political
analysts feel that for this to transpire, the party will first have to shed its
Hindutva image and reinvent itself as a liberal, right-wing outfit. However, as
insiders point out, with the RSS in control, this looks unlikely.
Moreover, earlier "moderates" like Atal Bihari Vajpayee - who softened the
extremist image - were in the picture. Now, with an ailing Vajpayee being
marginalized and Advani still controlling the party, this might not be easy -
Advani's image in the public mind is still that of the Babri Masjid demolition
man, linked with the1992 destruction of the 16th century Babri Mosque, or
Mosque of Babur, in Ayodhya, when a political rally deteriorated into a riot.
On the contrary, with Gadkari's anointment, the RSS has moved unapologetically
center-stage from being a behind-the-scenes manipulator. Bhagwat is known to be
singularly focused on the RSS's Hindutva philosophy, which many see as being
archaic and out of sync with the times.
He is also unapologetic about the Babri demolition and sticks to his vision of
Akhand Bharat (undivided India). He is nationalistic to the point of being
jingoistic and is skeptical of Western culture and economic liberalization.
Collectively, these are hardly the sum parts of an image a contemporary
political party that harbors hopes to rule the country can afford to project.
With the RSS's myopic vision, some fear this just might spell the end of the
road for the BJP as a contemporary national mainstream party that offers a
robust alternative to the Congress. But optimists are not yet willing to write
off the BJP. Advani, whatever his shortcomings, still commands a national
presence while Swaraj and Jaitley are seen as "sophisticated" and "liberal".
Besides, most party MPs are privately unhappy with the growing influence of the
RSS and are disenchanted with Gadkari's appointment.
These intra-party contradictions highlight the ongoing tug-of-war between the
more liberal elements in the party and the RSS. This difference of opinion is
likely to intensify in the future. Unlike the Congress, which is ruled with an
iron hand by the troika of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh - the
BJP has multiple points of authority. But now, with the induction of Gadkari,
and the resurgence of the RSS, the party has been drawn deeper into the vortex
of saffron. Finally, which way the balance will tilt may well spell out the
party's future or its demise.
Neeta Lal is a widely published writer/commentator who contributes to
many reputed national and international print and Internet publications.
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