Chief coordinator

The more things change, the more they remain the same. On the face of it, 61-year-old Bangaru Laxman's elevation as president-designate of...

The more things change, the more they remain the same. On the face of it, 61-year-old Bangaru Laxman’s elevation as president-designate of the BJP would appear to be a radical move for a party that is widely perceived as one that is essentially north Indian in its location and upper-caste in its social profile. Laxman, after all, is a Dalit from Andhra Pradesh. But while these personal attributes have symbolic value in an era when every political party is desperately trying to extend its social base, they do not in themselves represent a transformation of the party’s politics. Indeed Laxman, going by the evidence at hand, will be required only to keep a steady hand on the rudder and ensure that the BJP boat is not rocked, rather than attempt to steer a new course for the party like his more colourful predecessor, L.K. Advani, did by riding his famous rath.

The day of the pro-active party president is well and truly over for the BJP. This is partly because it is now a party of governance, rather than a party in opposition and does not therefore have to wrest power from its political opponents. But there are other factors too that have contributed to the steady undermining of the authority of the party president. For one, activist politics of the kind that Advani espoused in the early Nineties is clearly out of sync with the political mood of the day which is increasingly veering towards the coalitional rather than the confrontationist.

For another, the ascendancy of a strong figurehead like A.B. Vajpayee has put paid to the political ambitions of party satraps. The few attempts made by Kushabhau Thakre to directly influence the trajectory of the party were quickly nipped in the bud. At the Bangalore conclave over a year ago, party leaders were strongly reminded by the Prime Minister as to who the real boss in the BJP was and it was certainly not Thakre. There is no one who knows this better than Laxman himself. Speaking to this newspaper earlier this week, he stated with disarming candour that his first priority will be to “continue and strengthen the present arrangement of coordination between government and the party…” The interview also gave ample evidence that he doesn’t just acknowledge Vajpayee’s preeminence, but is in full agreement with the government’s agenda including the talks with Kashmiri militants.

The months ahead are bound to be challenging for the BJP president. Next year will see five assembly elections taking place in states that are crucial for the BJP like Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Of these UP, without doubt, presents the biggest dilemma for the party, with its weak and unpopular chief minister, sharply divided flock, and ambitious and powerful political opponents. It would also require all Laxman’s skills as a coordinator to keep the potentially stormy relationship between the RSS and the BJP on an even keel and here his long association with the Sangh should prove useful. But his most formidable task could lie in trying to extend his party’s appeal, both socially and geographically, as he hopes to do.

Coalitional politics, alas, even as it expands political opportunities, simultaneously shrink them. BJP’s allies in the NDA, whether it is Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh, M. Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu or Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, will certainly not take kindly to such notions.