The future of BJP

Even though I am not a strong supporter of BJP because of its pro Hindutva attitude, I feel sorry for its present state. The fact that BJP does not have a widely acknowledged predecessor for Advani itself cast serious doubts on the future of BJP.

2009 poll results gave a clear mandate to Congress, emphasizing on the necessity of a change in the ideologies of BJP. 2009 elections was conducted in amid of global economic crisis and increasing national security concerns. What people of India wanted was a group of leaders who can thrive India into a better future. Instead of stepping up to the situation, the election strategists of BJP stick to its old pro Hidutva line. The Varun Gandhi saga is an example of it. Their attempt to project Narendra Modi as the future PM candidate also got back fired. Instead of addressing the greater issues the nation was facing, BJP was busy on trying to castrate Dr ManmohanSingh, which forced the soft spoken PM to fight back in the same tone and every one knows by now who has won the battle.

The present of BJP looks disastrous and the future seems to be hopeless. Their is more than lack of consensus happening among the top brass of BJP leaders. Jaswanth Singh and Yashwant Sinha have already expressed their annoyance on the way the party behaved after the Lok Sabha elections. Yaswant has gone one step ahead to resign all his party positions and claimed he did that to take the responsibility of the election defeat as none, who were actually responsible, came forward to do so. Both of these veteran leaders have criticized the party leaders for their "reluctance to introspect and introspect comprehensively".

Before discussing about the future of BJP, let me throw some light on its history and its importance in Indian politics. Bharatiya Janata Party was officially formed in 1980 but it was active from 1951 as Bharatiya Jana Sangam. For decades it failed to make any noticeable strokes on the canvas of Indian national politics. But in the 90's, the party started evolving in the leadership of A.B Vajapayee and L.K Advani and came into the limelight after the demolition of Babri Masjid. During 1996 polls, it became the single largest party but failed to form a govt.But in 1998 polls, NDA,the BJP lead coalition, came to power but the coalition ruptured in 1999 as one of its main alley AIADMK withdrew the support. In 1999 polls NDA got 303 seats and BJP had an all time high of 183 seats and successfully completed 5 yr tenure, became the 1st non congress covernment to achieve that.

In 2004 general elections BJP faced a shocking defeat. Many political analysts attributed this defeat to an identity crisis of BJP. The reasons why BJP came into power were, people were fed up with corrupted congress party, anti congress coalitions failed to form a stable government and more than anything its Hidutva ideologies and values gave new hopes to millions of Hindus. But BJP failed to deliver its promises to Hindutva supporters in matters like building Ayodhya temple, due to the pressure of its allies. During the tenure it functioned like a rational government, a deviation from BJP's fundamental ideologies. The credit for this deviation should be given to A.B. Vajapayee and some of its allies. Most of the educated middle class, including me, liked the way the government was functioning and expected a second term for A.B.Vajpayee. But in 2004, BJP lost its traditional vote banks and above all another Gandhi came to lead Congress party and the country (I feel Indians have a blind admiration towards the name "Gandhi", The sad story is that most of them are unaware that it has nothing to do with Mahathma Gandhi). The path chosen by Vajapyee was unfortunately not followed by the party. After Vajpayee retired from active politics, the party fell into the hands of Advani and he failed to implement any ideological reforms in the party.

In my view BJP failed to recognize that the people of India has evolved from 90's. It has failed to evolve with time, a costly mistake once done by communist parties of India. Look at them, they are now mainly active in just 2 states. I won't be surprised if BJP ends up like them one day unless if they are willing to learn from their mistakes.

By now, you must have understood that I am not a strong supporter of BJP and probably be wondering why am I writing this Blog about them. If you keep apart its pro Hindutva attitude, BJP is a much better party in structure and functioning than Congress. The congress party has been functioning like a family business for the Gandhi family. If you dig a little bit into the history of the congress party, you can find just one "non Gandhi family" member, PV Narasimha Rao, occupied the top position of the congress party for a meaningful time period. He was also the only "non Gandhi family" person from congress to complete 5yrs as a PM till Dr. Manmohan Singh. BJP has also played an important role in questioning the monopoly of Congress. Their continuous victories in96 and 99 polls has forced the congress to be more vigil on policy making and functional efficiency of the government. Congress was always infamous for its corrupted leaders and I see they did put some sincere effort to avoid corrupted people in high positions ( people like shibu soren are political exceptions) after they found a strong opponent in BJP.

To conclude it is the existence of BJP that caused bringing India close to a bipartisan democracy. And there is no other national party exist today to replace BJP. If BJPs importance is gonna be diminished in the future it means Indian national political system will be more shattered by the presence of unhealthy coalitions of local parties and an increasing monopoly of congress party. That is not a heartening news for the future India.