May
Why does India need a strong BJP?
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As all the hyperbole about Elections 2009 recedes (It is amazing to see stock markets stop trading because of election results), I think it is appropriate to objectively discuss the elections. Some of the things that are interesting are the failures of the BJP and the Left (seemingly parties with committed voter bases) to enthuse the voters, the inability of psephologists and markets to predict the results and the decline of regional parties. I intend to write about this in the next few posts of mine. I think no person is (or should be) politically neutral, it is necessary to have a stand as long as the stand is not dogmatic and as long as one is upfront about this and does not pretend to be unbiased. (I support the BJP, so readers can look at these posts in that light. I assure you this will not deter me from being rather critical of the BJP in later posts)
This piece though is about the necessity of the BJP to Indian society. An interesting way to look at the evolution of political parties in India is to try and understand each party’s idea of India, their views on the relative powers of the center and the states, the class and caste base of the leaders and the voters and their views on key issues of national importance – security, corruption, economy etc. This usually gives a good idea of what these parties stand for.
The BJP’s idea of India has always been one based on a strong nationalism. India is one strong entity, all Indians share a common culture (as per the RSS and key intellectuals in the BJP, one based on Hinduism) and should be governed by the strong civil and personal laws (Hence, an ideological commitment towards the Uniform Civil Code). All regions in India should have the same rights (Hence, a demand for the abolition of Article 370, giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir). (This has also led to a demand for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, but that matter is too political and not the subject of this post). The BJP’s voter base has historically been the educated, urban middle class (frustrated with the socialistic policies of the Congress) and largely committed to free market economic policies (Though never explicitly stated, it can be argued that the Jana Sangh supported C. Rajagopalachary’s Swatantra Party, India’s first and only openly capitalistic party). But the BJP’s economics never supported the capitalism of the rich and the incumbent businesses (often nurtured by the license quota raj); This was a free market policy for the shopkeepers, small businessmen and entrepreneurs; who largely formed its voter base. The leaders of the BJP were intellectuals, mostly from the Hindu upper castes, but not always.
My case is that India needs a strong BJP, as much in the opposition as in power. From time to time, voters may choose to vote it out of power, but the relevance of the BJP remains. Why do I so?
- “The need for a strong, secure India”: The BJP’s governing ideology naturally makes it committed to national security. Security implies not only external security, it also includes the ability to deal with internal threats like the Naxalite movement.
- “The need for a balanced, free market economics”: India needs a party committed to free markets subject to reasonable regulations, a party with a belief in competition, the rights of the small entrepreneur and moderate taxation. The record of the Congress on all of these remains questionable. While the government under Dr. Singh might be pro-market, whether the Congress party itself believes in those policies remains to be seen. At the same time, beliefs in a free market should not be dogmatic; for instance, the Congress party’s support for financial sector reforms, foreign investment through the back door. (Both of which are subjects I’ll write about in separate posts).
- “The need for a correct definition of secularism”: No reasonable person can question the secular character of India. But the definition of secularism is ambiguous. While the constitution meant it to imply a state that did not support any religion, it has been twisted to imply a state that appeases minorites. I hate to be controversial, but anybody who doubts this should read about the Shah Bano case (which gave rise to the BJP’s demand for a uniform civil code; the case was not about complex legal issues, it was about a old, divorced lady’s right to maintenance and whether a religion could be allowed to ignore that. Rajiv Gandhi overruled a court verdict to pass a legislation declaring that the right to maintenance was not absolute). It is a rather twisted notion that a party demanding similar laws for all religions is considered communal.
- “The need for anti-Congressism”: The BJP promised to be a party with a difference – free from nepotism, factionalism, dynasty worship and an institutionalization of corruption, a party committed to the freedom of institutions meant to safeguard democracy. A party with strong internal democracy, where the grassroots worker could truly aspire to be the leader. The extent to which the BJP has achieved this remains questionable; what cannot be denied is the relevance of these ideas.
Inspite of this, why has the BJP stagnated? The problems are many: A failure to articulately communicate its stand on key economic issues, a failure to contain the fringe elements within the Sangh parivar and a disconnect with the youth. Also, the party with a difference is falling prey to what has best been described as “The Congressization of the BJP”. A inability to sufficiently adapt its stand on key issues, not being able to give up obsolete issues and a failure to build a cohesive second rung (though it has succeeded in building an extremely talented one). The party also needs to consider why do the kids of BJP supporters not vote for the BJP? Why is the BJP seen as a party for the old? Why has the party’s core urban voter grown disenchanted with it?
Why does the BJP seem like a creature caught between trying to be someone she is not and not being able to give up the idea of who she really is?
I’ll look at these issues in the next few posts (though there might be other unrelated posts in between).
Some of you might consider this piece partisan, I assure you that is not the case. Once I am through with this entire series, you might get a fair idea. Please feel free to criticize and comment.
Just as I am convinced of the relevance of the BJP, I believe India needs a strong, vibrant and an articulate Left front (Parties owing allegiance to Communist ideologies). That should be my next post.
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27 Responses to “Why does India need a strong BJP?”
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A good post indeed. I think one reason that you have failed to mention is that India needs a strong BJP just to keep Congress in check. We need another strong national party to make sure that Congress does not think that there is no other alternative to it. There is a national party which can replace Congress in every elections.
The title of the post and the initial part made me feel that this was going to be one of those blind, passionate, and largely unreasonable, pro-BJP posts that infest the internet. But, this actually turned out be a fairly knowledgeable, and quite unbiased, piece on India’s politics. Being a one-time strong supporter of BJP, who has shifted loyalties to Congress, I think you have identified the issues with BJP pretty well. Look forward to more posts, as promised, on this topic.
An intersting and insigtful post…
Nice Insights…
I also agree with the Shubham that another reason would be to have a Strong Party to check the Congress. Something essentially a nature of the Democracy…
Hey Siddhesh,
Good post. Although my reasons are more sentimental and fanatical than nationalistic, I would love to see BJP generate a bunch of better leaders (the educated class as always).
-Swanand
Hi swanand – the post is by Abhishek Gupte here… I wrote the previous post..
The words of appreciation are well received though! Please write about how we can improve/ issues of importance to you etc on our write-to-us page.
Many thanks,
Siddhesh
Excerpts from wiki on BJP:
“Designed to represent the country’s majority community (Hindu) and the Sikh population”
“The concept of Hindutva has a special place in its ideology, with the party aiming to transform India in to a modern, progressive and enlightened nation which draws inspiration from India’s ancient Hindu culture and values”
Professed goals of the BJP:
A Ban on Cow Slaughter, A Ban on Some Religious Conversions, The Construction of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya
Controversies & Criticism:
Ram janambhoomi, Communal violence in Gujarat under BJP rule, India shining advertisements
We need a strong congress, a strong bjp and a strong left. lotsa ironing out to do in all of them.
@Shubham.
That is largely what I meant by the need for anti-Congressism. But with the BJP increasingly threatening to resemble the Congress, this might not be a key factor for voters.
The primary reasons why BJP came into power in the first place is the fact that people wanted a “National alternative” to the Congress (till then a dynastic rule barring that great man called LBS).
Post the 84 riots, ethnic cleansing of Hindus from J&K – the Hindus and the Sikhs were morally down – this is when RSS decided to step in, and galvanize the Hindus. Their methods were not right always – but they managed to achieve a national consensus. This, in the backdrop of Q and Bofors, made them “the alternative”.
Before Vajpayee formed the Govt in 1996, then 1998 – BJP had actually been in power when they had supported the VP Singh government. When in power – the leaders made aggressive noises about free market economy and liberalization when India was on the verge of bankruptcy.
The Congress, at this point was shaken out of its complacency – and when they came back to power following a sympathy wave following Rajiv Gandhi’s death – they made sure they took the lead in this – of course, they had a maverick in Dr. MMS to take care of the economy.
BJP, across the years, have been pioneers in a number of ways – they were the ones who initiated the talks about the nuclear deal, and NREGS was their brainchild in the first place. They were helped by the fact that they had in their ranks a number of powerful, media savvy, intelligent young leaders who had come up the ranks the hard way – Arun Jaitley, Pramod Mahajan, Sushma Swaraj and Uma Bharti.
These men ensured a centrist image, led of course by the great Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Development was focused on – the common man, especially the urban middle class had began to identify themselves with BJP.
Then why did they fail? where did they go wrong?
… continued in next post
Well, the mention of BJP is almost incomplete without the mention of RSS. (the only time it was different was in Vajpayee’s reign)
What is RSS? Is it a Hindu-militant organization? is it anti-minority? Well, they were, and are – an organization which has done a lot for the poor. Started in the 50s, they follow a strict organizational structure where members are asked to help the needy, putting country above anything else (I have been close friends with someone who was an active RSS member).
But they have been extremely media-shy – which have given a free run to the media to demonize them as and when they please. Secondly, there have been chinks in the organization in recent times – the lack of a centrally commanding figure – and that has made some local leaders (mostly fanatics) take control of things in a manner unbecoming of RSS.
Thirdly, whenever there is a mention of any right-wing Hindu organization, they are invariably linked to the RSS – e.g – Sri Ram Sene – does the youth of country know (specially “The consortium of pub-going, loose women”) – that Sri Ram Sene is actually anti-BJP, anti-RSS for their “moderate” image, and had put up 83 candidates against BJP in K’taka assembly elections last year? They have been the biased media’s favourite whipping boys. Take for example, a youth in Delhi. Doe he/ she know the work done by RSS, in say, the Bihar floods? in Bhuj earthquake? They know that “some RSS-type organization is against love and fornication” (yes, this was said in a news channel) – difficult to fight on such a platform !!!!
And yes, they are against cow-slaughter, against forced conversions – and they have a logic for it too.
……. continued in the next post
Coming back to the BJP
1. They have let things slip out of their hands post 2004. Walk-outs in Parliament are definitely a form of protest, but BJP seems to have done that quite often. They were the ones who initiated the nuke deal, the NREGS, but protested against them on flimsy grounds. The youth constitute the maximum population of the country, and they seemed to been let down by this negativity – as one the people who posted above says – he changed sides.
2. BJP have not been media savvy. Their leaders, sometimes even the ones who are considered media-mavericks like Jaitley, have appeared wooden, and on the defensive – it has not helped that the media was against them in the first place.
3. The lack of a young face – this perhaps was the single most important factor. The fact that they don’t allow dynasty politics means they don’t have “young leaders” to take over.
4. The confusion over the leadership – one of whom have been so much vilified, that people ignore his development work. There is no unifying factor like ABV.
5. A proper succession plan and internal squabbles.
6. A deviation from the centrist image.
7. Low stress on the development platform – people in our country still vote on bijli, sadak, paani – and the image of “a party for the rich” (India shining)
8. They represented a clean image for long – but the high number of tainted people they have put up – have meant they have lost ground here also.
I wish to put further comments on a probable future plan – but I am waiting for Abhishek’s second post on this
yes, and of course, a mindless attack on Dr. MMS – a man with a clean imgae, and immense popularity, a man perhaps as respected as Dr. Kalam.
finally, inability to hold on to their allies, due to various reasons – Didi, Amma even Behenji who have been their allies at different points of time have been reluctant. Patnaik dumped them, and Nitish dilly-dallied.
What is BJP’s future plan, where do they go from here? what is their role as opposition – now that almost any other political party other than the Congress and BJP has become numerically insignificant? waiting for such views.
An excellent post. To use an analogy, BJP and Congress are like, or at least should be like, Joker and Batman. Each defining the other and at the same time, being incomplete without the other. A stronger BJP will always result in a stronger Congress, and a stronger congress will always result in a stronger BJP. While its too early to speculate, I guess going by this defeat and the way their allies are behaving, the BJP would have realized that Modi is not the poster boy that they had hoped, especially out of Gujarat. (Even within Gujarat, 15 and 11, when the BJP supporters were claiming something along the lines of 20 and 6)
BJP needs someone like ABV, and fast.
Nice post. Although you could have done even better by backing the 4 reasons with actual facts from the tenure of BJP government during Atalji’s time a la kaushik saha.
I am a pro-rightist being a kashmiri pandit and a member of RSS during my youth. But I do feel that BJP did not do enough during its tenure. Kargil and Parliament Attacks do remain a black spot on BJP’s image as someone who uphelds the security of India above everything else. Ditto for Kandahar.
Promoting Modi would definitely not be a bad idea – his image is of a tough administrator and a pro-progress leader. And the whole of gujarat loves him !! You just have to ask fellow IIM A colleagues and they will tell you how popular he is in gujarat. Gujarat riots notwithstanding. I do not condone at all what all he has been suspected of doing BUT we dont need to make the same a question of ethics – put it in strict definition of right or wrong. Its just a question of whether or not he can lead ably. I think he can.
Really like the Batman and Joker analogy.
well, wat is said is true in case of any opposition. I dont find special with a BJP or Congress, these parties seem to change their ideology quite frequently though this is one of the key reasons they have survived and left has not. India does really need a strong BJP or Congress, It needs strong people sitting there in Parliament. Whether ruling or opposition. I would encourage the author of this post to make more active contribution. We really need more people like him to actively contribute to politics.
nice analogy .. very well said
Nice post.. while reading it I felt it more of a pro BJP and anti Congress post.. stating that BJP has more intellect people doesn’t seems to be true.. also, I feel congress post 1991 should not be compared with earlier Govt. as there has been significant changes in the party after that and it has worked well too.. Coming back to BJP.. BJP don’t have a single leader other then Atal ji or for that matter Arun shourie who can say prove his contribution for the uplift of the country.. even when BJP has played the role of opposition.. it has failed miserably by staging so many walkouts that we all are aware of… I think instead of supporting Reservations (which they can never oppose we know why) they have opposed everything… moreover when given a chance BJP was not upto the mark and failed again… So instead of Strong BJP … we need more sensible BJP who instead of staging walkout and wasting our money can discuss policies on facts and keep check on congress…
on a lighter note, whats with the joker and batman analogy abhiram…u want cong and bjp to be not-so-straight crime fighting partners secretly in love with each other ??
just kidding. u know that batman is the best superhero ever !
I used the Joker and Batman analogy, because I felt that it was very appropriate. In fact, in one of the latest batman comic books (Batman 681, the last issue in Batman RIP arc), Joker has a very interesting monologue about him and Batman, and how both of them are locked in a spiral, and how both of them have to continuously update and redefine themselves just to keep up, and since the media had dubbed the entire election the “Dance of Democracy”, I just felt that the imagery of the two main national parties (come on, who is Mayawati kidding) as partners in a dance, locked constantly in maneuver and having to upgrade themselves was very fitting, considering the tone of the article.
Interestingly, it is one of the most basic fundamentals of strategic marketing, that instead of going head to head with a competitor (which leads to price wars, layoffs and case studies), it is much better for everyone concerned if all the players try to grow in value, while at the same time, try to increase the size of the pie.
btw – I could not find the “online voting” link – so I would like to post this link here
~ One of the team , I believe would be intricately linked to the post
http://www.livemint.com/2009/05/24215753/BJP-wide-Web-a-success.html
http://renjithmn.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/muthalikram-sene-and-election-2009
Nair, awesome man, awesome
The article is ver good. Write please more
you have the talent to change the coarse of the tide. real debater……kudos!! best part is if u belong to middle class family of north india, u know tat ur family hav supported whole heartedly at BJP including you. one more important fact. All RSS chief are self made man, no nepotism, no sycophancy, all highly educated and led a disciplined life. If we forget the political issues (Godhra and Babri masjid incident), then you can see, many selfless workers are there in RSS making the society, a better place to live. They are providing good education for lower middle class students based on Vedic as well as modern science in Swarsati Shishu Mandir School initiative. The grass root level work of RSS has never been appreciated by the media. I am waiting for your post regarding this issue.
the religion of my grandfather is Hinduism and he says that it is a great religion..**