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Journalism of Courage
There8217;s no one quite like Venkaiah Naidu. Words come fast and furious to this party president, as in a torrential flow. Before he knows it, they arrange themselves into pretty lines and catchy slogans, and politics begins to rhyme and chime. Venkaiahspeak make it all sound easy. Just listen to him at Bangalore. Speaking to the media about the deliberations at the day-long meeting of BJP8217;s national office-bearers, he did not allow himself to be bogged down by the mundane nature of his task. Not for him the routine soundbite about the party8217;s strategy for the forthcoming polls. Whether or not the BJP will look for allies, will these contests be a referendum on the Vajpayee government 8212; those queries were left to those more prosaic and less inspired, like Pramod Mahajan, to handle. Naidu, himself, articulated on his party8217;s behalf the grand six-fold classification of states.
In no particular order, they are: The 8216;8216;Agitation States8217;8217;, like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Bihar, Kerala, West Bengal, requiring mass stirs. To impress upon the misguided voters that they had gone so terribly wrong, electing non-BJP parties to power, not getting agitated enough over the real issues, hoary temples and persecuted cows. The 8216;8216;Reconstruction States8217;8217;, in which Uttar Pradesh understandably tops the list. Here, the BJP must rebuild and rejuvenate. If only the party could figure out where to begin. UP, after all, is the state where, as someone cruelly put it, 8216;8216;Na Maya mili na Ram8217;8217;. Where MLAs are up in arms against legislature party leader Lalji Tandon and secret liaisons with Mulayam threaten to make the BJP8217;s position even more inchoate. The 8216;8216;Good Governance States8217;8217;, like, Goa, Jharkhand and, hold your breath, Gujarat. Where Narendra Modi upholds the raj dharma, but selectively, according to community. And would really concentrate on governance, if only the Hindus weren8217;t quite so under siege. So many 8216;8216;terrorists8217;8217; to put away, so many yatras to lead.
