Among the dominant themes in contemporary India has been the BJP’s phenomenal rise. The subject is held together by a set of assumptions about the party’s ‘nationalist’ ideology, its skills in cobbling a coalition in New Delhi, and its voicing the interests of large sections of our people. In recent months, analysts have knocked down these convenient assumptions. The BJP cloak, untidied by its own supporters, is all but shredded into pieces. Ideology, says a historian of Indian nationalism, provides a good tool for fine carving, but it does not make big buildings. Despite its loud protestations, the BJP is no longer a credible party grounded in common aims. As its policies have been laid bare, what was once mistakenly projected as a ‘principled’ party appears as nothing of the sort. Promising a clean and efficient government, the spurious unities that had emerged almost two years ago, have collapsed. Today, more than ever before, there is a palpable gap between what the BJP politicians claimed to represent and what they really stand for. Hence the drubbing in Assembly elections, and the belated endeavours to refurbish the party’s image. Incongruities of coalition politics have been the stuff of Indian politics. Yet, it will no longer do to exalt the BJP for keeping intact a ramshackle coalition. What seems to decide its political choices is hardly the good of the people but the race for power, influence and resources. It has doled out concessions to individuals, factions and regional satraps and allowed them their share of the booty. The arrangement has, doubtless, worked for the time being. But once the RSS-BJP bandwagon begins to roll on just before the forthcoming Assembly elections, those NDA partners who have gained so much by their enthusiastic acceptance of the BJP government, will be cast aside. The factors that had inspired the formation of a coalition government will be sacrificed. The likes of George Fernandes and Sharad Yadav would be forced to quit, bag and baggage. At present, two factors account for the mendicancy of the NDA partners. First, the sheer lust for power has led them to shuttle between political arenas, and mount the BJP chariot, with a whip in hand that they use occasionally to draw political mileage. Second, the ground reality in Andhra Pradesh where the TDP battles with Congress, or in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee tries in vain to displace the 25-year old CPI (M) regime, have made the politicians both of the Centre and in the state more dependent on each other. The BJP, thus, keeps a line open to Hyderabad, Kolkata and now Chennai, and offers a smattering of power to Chandrababu Naidu, not least the power of spending money and distributing rice. Yet, it can bark but not bite, a lesson Arun Jaitley will have to learn as the BJP’s spokesperson. Locked in these fetters, the prime minister has had to pay a heavy price by creating more ministerial berths, soothing malcontents, and taming the brazen imposters in politics. This explains last fortnight’s cabinet reshuffle. Compulsions apart, Jaswant Singh’s ouster from MEA and the choice of certain ministers, including two tired-looking actors from Bollywood, cast doubts on this government’s credibility. Some might say that over a billion people are being taken for a ride to suit the BJP’s short-term goals. Today, more than ever before, there is a palpable gap between what the BJP politicians claimed to represent and what they really stand for L.K. Advani, the deputy prime minister, may possess the skills to steer the BJP ship through the rough currents in Uttar Pradesh, ‘‘the cradle of Hindu cultural nationalism’’, but he will be tested for his commitment to preserving our secular polity. He must, therefore, get rid of Narendra Modi, a misguided Hindu zealot. Despite Arun Jaitley’s distasteful defence of the chief minister, Modi is universally despised for his conduct in Gujarat. His removal is therefore a guarantor of inter-community peace; his continuance, on the other hand, will be construed as an act of surrender to proto-fascist forces. A knee-jerk reaction to a state-sponsored carnage will expose further the vulnerability of our secular society. Advani’s views on Hindutva do not inspire confidence. While announcing his plan of undertaking the rath-yatra from the Somnath temple to Ayodhya in September 1990, he reportedly said, ‘‘So far as the question of the birthplace of Lord Rama in Ayodhya and Lord Krishna in Mathura and the Kashi Vishwanath temple is concerned, the Hindu community cannot compromise.’’ The outcome of the yatra was that town after town succumbed to riots, arson, killings and finally curfew. The Babri Masjid’s demolition, for which many people hold Advani & Co responsible, was the last straw. Since then much water has flown under the Sarju river. In 1990 the rath yatra may have released a flood of sublimated ‘nationalist’ energy, but nowadays Hindu nationalism is neither the accepted creed in political society nor is the BJP perceived as the party of Hindu resurgence. That being the case, the deputy prime minister will be judged, in his new incarnation, by his firm stand in dealing with the stridency of the VHP-Bajrang Dal over the construction of the Ram mandir. As the occupant of a high office, he must not allow his ideological predilections to overwhelm his judgement. If Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first home minister, is Advani’s role model, I hope it is not too much to ask him to act as the custodian of the secular values enshrined in the Constitution and as the nation’s conscience-keeper. The rule of law must prevail, citizenry rights safeguarded, and minority rights defended from the onslaught of communalists. For this to happen, Advani must call the bluff of the trishul-wielding VHP-Bajrang Dal activists. He must know that, jettisoning all its mumbo-jumbo about ‘Hindu’ values, they have gone on the offensive with a strategy clearly designed to polarise life in the country along antagonistic religious lines. With economic reforms underway, Pakistan-backed terrorists making life difficult, and the world closely monitoring our dismal record in Gujarat, India can ill-afford another round of Hindu-Muslim conflagrations.
