Disorder in the BJP house

The BJP is in a mess. The party's 25th birth anniversary coincides with the unearthing of mass burials from the pogrom in Gujarat.

The RSS, the party's founder, chides it through its weekly Organiser for not having "a clearer vision of its political understanding". The RSS point man in the BJP, Sanjay Joshi, resigns from the party's general secretaryship following the videotapes of his sexual escapades. The BJP also has the distinction of having in its ranks six MPs who were ousted from the Lok Sabha for accepting bribes to ask questions in the House. And a relatively lesser known person, former UP chief minister Rajnath Singh, takes over the reins of the party from L.K. Advani who quits the presidency unceremoniously but assures the RSS that it was like water without which the BJP, a fish, could not survive.

Yet, the party confidently says that it is the only alternative to the ruling Congress. The BJP believes people will turn to it because between now and the next general election in three and a half years' time, even a miracle cannot change the plight of the common man. He may vote negatively but this will be to the BJP's gain.

The economic angle may well be true. Benefits of the 7-8 per cent annual GDP growth during the 18-month-old Congress rule have not trickled down to the lower half. It is also true that the BJP has emerged over the years as an all-India party with 137 seats in the present Lok Sabha.

Where the party's calculations go awry are in its failure to appreciate the strength of India's secular ethos as well as the Constitution. The BJP was defeated at the Lok Sabha polls it lost 43 seats and this was mainly because of its parochial Hindutva image. Murli Manohar Joshi, who was HRD minister when the BJP was in power, created a scare among the minorities when he had history books changed and appointed RSS-minded people to top positions in the field of education. Indeed, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's planned killing of Muslims in the state was another reason to drive the minorities and a substantial number of lower castes to the Congress.

No doubt, he won Gujarat but he made the BJP lose the rest of India. The party is averse to criticise him even when mass burials have been unearthed because the RSS, which provides the BJP with workers at the grassroots, is behind him. Modi is a typical example of an order where one man changes people. He has proved to the BJP that ethnic cleansing is the way to polarise the society and get votes.

But how can a party that wants to come to power in New Delhi afford to do so? No single party can get a majority in the Lok Sabha in the foreseeable future. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which the BJP leads and which has ruled the country is shaky. Nitish Kumar, who defeated Lalu Yadav in Bihar, has distanced himself from the BJP. This was seen in the last session of parliament. Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh parted company with the BJP several months ago.

The dilemma

The National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir jettisoned the BJP the day it lost power at the centre. In fact, the BJP is impaled on the horns of a dilemma. It cannot do without the NDA. Nor can it cut its umbilical cord with the RSS. Most of its members who have imbibed the Hindutva from childhood find themselves uncomfortable in the absence of links with the RSS. The BJP also has a grievance against secular forces. They did not support it when it was keeping itself aloof from the RSS.

Giving an undertaking to the NDA constituents not to build a temple at the site where the Babri masjid stood before its destruction was a big affront to the RSS. So was the promise not to touch Article 370 which gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The two are the main planks of the RSS. Yet the BJP kept them aside to form the NDA government. However, in the last general election the party found to its dismay that its image remained that of a Hindu party. The BJP does not realise that the reason for its defeat was the misgivings about its secular stance. The party has not been bold or consistent enough to confront the RSS. One stern glance from the latter makes the BJP run for cover.

Whether the NDA survives after the BJP's abject surrender to the RSS is yet to be seen. However, what can be seen is that the BJP is back to square one: the temple issue. The country may see secular forces arrayed against communal forces. The Congress will have to frame its strategy for the battles of tomorrow. If not, incidents such as the attack on the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore will be used by communal forces to divide the society.

Kuldip Nayar is a former Indian High Commissioner to the UK and a former Rajya Sabha MP.