Any who can win an election ?
The BJP will hold its National Executive next weekend in Madhya Pradesh. The suspense is over and nobody can complain the BJP has not got its priorities right . We now know, courtesy The Telegraph, what menu will be on the table.
Well what of the political agenda ?
Not much in the media on the goings and comings of the three-day review meeting of top RSS and BJP leaders held at Uttan near Bhayander in Thane district. However the broad contours of a likely strategy are beginning to emerge. While it is still early days one can see the first signs of a strategy starting with mending of fences with the Shiv Sena and off the record confabulations with Jayalalitha’s AIADMK. The Pioneer in its lead editorial today emphasizes how important it was for the BJP to stitch up a String of Pearls coalition strategy with Mr. Advani emerging once again as the party’s strategist in chief.
Mr. Advani’s efforts to shape the strategy have not been without roadbumps. Starting with the rather unecessary clarifications from some of his colleagues on the Nuclear Deal to the somewhat amusing claims to a potential Premiership. The reality however is few in the BJP but for Mr. Advani can legitimately claim nationwide mass support and success in electoral politics to be considered seriously as a contender for Premiership unless of course they view themselves in the Manmohan mould as appointee’s convenience.
The Prime Ministerial sweepstakes can however wait, the more urgent topic for the BJP to discuss is the agenda with which it intends to approach the electorate.
The Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi lead UPA Government has handed them quite a few issues on a platter. The delinquency with which the UPA has been dealing with Terrorism coupled with its unapologetic pursuit of Muslim Appeasement tops the list. The gutless wonder of a Home Minister in Shivraj Patil with his mishandling of internal security and Sonia Gandhi’s deafening silence on Terrorism should make for a great electoral subject. The new brand of Communal Socialism advocated by the Manmohan Singh Government highlighted by the Sachar fishing expedition and the myth of Muslim Discrimination should come right next. While the constitutional transgressions of the Congress in Bihar, Jharkhand and most recently in Goa may not make for a hot electoral issue they should be leveraged to keep the flock of regional allies together while forcing other fence sitters to take a stance. The Congress should also be cornered for having condoned the many sins of the CPI-M while looking the other way on the rape murder case in Singur.
However the most important area for the BJP to focus on is how to reclaim the space it has ceded to the CPI-M with its me-too position on key issues. While secular activism offers a window of opportunity to bring closure to unresolved issues of the past decade, the BJP must not lose sight of the future.
There are great expectations of the future from the next generation of India epitomized by this blog and others. The BJP and its well-wishers made a beginning by listening to the voices of the future and the high expectations of this generation during the recent Presidential election. If the BJP expects to be taken seriously in the next elections it must present a coherent forward looking Right of Center Vision for the Future.
Offstumped has over the last 3 years on many an occasion proposed elements of such a Right of Center Vision. The BJP would do well to consider how Hindutva needs to reinvent itself to be relevant in a Flat World by attempting to bridge the gap with those to the Right of Center on economic issues.
We have seen glimpses of such a reinvention in Gujarat with Mr. Modi’s focus on economic liberalism and sound governance but we have also seen glaring contradictions from some of his peers.
Offstumped Bottomline: This blog and others will be keeping a close watch on the confabulations in Madhya Pradesh next week. This is a defining moment for the BJP and its National Executive next week should be a starting point for evolving such a vision for the future.
Postscript.
Has C. Dorjee, director (monuments), ASI, unwittingly set the agenda for the next elections whenever they are held, Offstumped hopes not.
The Telegraph seems to believe the document filed by the Archaeological Society of India (ASI), in the Supreme Court in the context of the Sethusamudram Project and the Ram Setu (the partly submerged Adam’s Bridge), is in line with the scientific temperament of a self-styled secular administration. Offstumped begs to differ. The ASI’s submission is beginning to look more like a case sabotage to queer the pitch ahead of the next elections. Mr. Advani did well to urge the PM to nip this controversy in the bud by withdrawing this submission without delay, unless of course the Congress wants to fight the next election on the issue of Rama’s existence.
On a lighter note there ought to be no debate on the question of Ram Sethu being man made for it was not a “Naara Sena” but a “Vaanara Sena” that built it 
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String of pearls, against whose neck ?
Vajpayee is a spent force now – who is good only for guidance but not governance !
The only other BJP leader who has it in him to provide leadership to the ailing Party is Advani. They is no one else! Each day they delay announcing Advani as the unambiguous leader of BJP and the candidate for PM, BJP is doing a great disservice to itself and its supporters.
But solving the leadership problem is not enough ! BJP needs to urgently start the process of reform of the Hindutva forces. Yossarin’s “Flat World Hindtava†concept is broadly in the right direction. Social Reforms are critical. Untill and unless the Hindutva forces (BJP-RSS-VHP combine) start consolidating the Hindus under it fold by shunning the laws of Manu, no beginning will be made. Its first challenge will be to abolish the caste-system and bring the 165 million Dalits in India in the mainstream. All the tall leaders of the BJP-RSS-VHP combine need to make an honest attempt in this direction. Its second challenge will be to accommodate other religious minorities and make them feel at ease – but under a Common Civil Code that preceeds individual religious laws or systems of the different religions (including Hindus).
Economic reforms are essential. Here BJP’s track record is not bad. But it must shed the “double standards†like what it displayed in case the Indo-US nuclear deal. On matters of “national interest†no political opportunism should be displayed – no matter how much the provocations are.
Then and only then, BJP would arrive – and actually come back to power and sustain it !
This debate about who the potential future PM, if BJP wins the general election
in the next 2 years, is already settled. It’s going to be Vajpayee, because
that’s the consensus of the NDA allies. The recent statement by Nitish Kumar
vetoing any other choice is just one indication.
Advani will be credited for creating the second national party of India.
But his recent gaffes has cost him huge support within the Sangh Parivar.
Calling Jinnah a great man was the worst statement a hindu person make. Over
a million hindu’s perished in the communal carnage of the partition. Everyone
in the Sangh Parivar is quite suspicious of his ideological moorings now.
Add to that his recent gaffe of semi-endorsing the nuclear deal, without
even clarifying it with any of the other BJP leaders, displays possible senility.
But if he were to become PM, given his prior record as home minister, he would
be a disaster. The Kandahar fiasco, beginning of terrorist bombing spree,
Kargil intelligence failure, unchecked Bangladeshi infiltration, horrible
misuse of POTA(Vaiko’s arrest) all point to his general incompetence at running
governmental matters.
But all of this moot — Vajpayee now and Modi(favorite of the youth)/Jaitley
5 years from now.
I don’t think its just the BJP, but the Congress as well. Vajpayee is done
with, and Advani is coming up on the 80 mark. He still has plenty of energy
and I think he is the best option. Word is he will be “confirmed” after the
conclave. Yashwant Sinha and Joshi are the ones who should really be
worried…after losing the last LS polls, their stock in the party has
dwindled completely. I also think Advani can help bridge the gap with
much-needed allies, starting with Jaya and I think the INLD and maybe the
AGP would be willing to play ball. Rajnath’s loss of face in UP has
practically paved the way for Advani to take over again. Ideally, I would love for someone like Arun Jaitley or Sushma Swaraj to be considered.
As for the Congress, I would pretty much say MMS is done with if they came
back to power. Perhaps Sonia will accept power if it isn’t based on Left
support. Rahul Gandhi has yet to make any mark on his own. I am not keen on most in the cabinet. Perhaps an ex-CM, like Sheila Dikshit or Sushil Kumar Shinde?
We are usually pretty quick to criticize our leaders – without understanding the complexity and deep rooted nature of the problems in India and the compelling political compulsions under which the leaders have to work in.
Barring Pt. Nehru and to some extent Indira Gandhi, who led the country with a clear mandate during the pre-BJP era – which was a period of lesser political opportunism – politicians across party lines were united on most issues of “national importance†and stood by the Govt on such matters. Today the scenario has completely changed and political opportunism on every matter is the order of the day ! In this vitiated political atmosphere, issues of “national importance†are been regularly compromised.
There should be a Charter of Mission-critical Initiatives (issues of “national importanceâ€) where political parties need to exercise utter restraint while taking positions for “political gainsâ€. No matter how much the provocations are, politicians across parties lines should refrain from using these issues of national importance for political mileage. Parties should have a mandate not to politicize or issue any whips on these matters. They, instead should try to work on consensus across party lines as much as possible (failing which the majority opinion through secret ballot should prevail). This Charter could include :-
1.Poverty alleviation
2.Emancipation of the oppressed sections of the society (Dalits and Women)
3.National security
4.Energy security
5.Economic Reforms
6.Terrorism
7.Primacy of the Constitution and its secular character
Once this happens, the implementation of above mission-critical initiatives will be fast tracked with the backing of politicians across party lines and we will see real progress of our country.
[...] was statesmanship on Mr. Advani’s part to recognize the irresponsibility of bequeathing unresolved conflicts for future generations to [...]
Shankrikoppa: Hundreds join BJP–
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Hanagal: “Many leaders and party workers are joining BJP from Congress and JDS attracted by the of achievements of BJP Government. Congress leaders are disappointed by this and they dont have any home in themself”, told Taluk BJP president Miyyajan.
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