Food for chintan

It is being said that the single largest question the BJP8217;s four-day chintan baithak will confront will be this: Will General Elections...

It is being said that the single largest question the BJP8217;s four-day chintan baithak will confront will be this: Will General Elections 2004 be held in September 2004, or earlier? Next February, perhaps, or even along with the four assembly elections this year? A heated debate has already been worked up around this issue and an influential section of the party is pushing for advancing E-day. While the timing of elections is certainly crucial, and especially so for the parties in the fray, it must be hoped that at the baithak this week, the BJP does not allow alternative poll schedules to circumscribe every debate.

Regardless of when elections come, the party needs to urgently hammer out clarity on many issues. The wearying Ayodhya dispute, for one, that has been pushed back onto centrestage in recent days. So, after all these years, what does the BJP see as a solution? Even as the Supreme Court is seized of the matter, and judicial diggings have continued apace, does the party wish to promote a settlement by enacting a new law? It must tell us whether it has given up on negotiations between the two communities as well. Also, as the Indian polity steps further into a new century, does the party still consider Ayodhya to be an electoral issue? Basically, the BJP needs to spell out its commitment, or lack of it, to the prime ministerial promise of leading the country into a new and hopeful 8216;8216;problem-solving8217;8217; phase. It needs to tell the nation whether it is prepared to show the largeness and long-term vision that is required for negotiating old resentments and nurturing new possibilities. Then, there is the related matter of alliances. Over the past many months now, it has been obvious that the balance of power in the NDA has been shifting in favour of the BJP. The allies, be it George Fernandes8217;s Samata or Mamata Banerjee8217;s Trinamool, are in a state of internal deshabille. The BJP must clarify just what those changed power equations mean in terms of the policy and programme of the government it leads now and any it may lead in the future.

The leadership issue awaits more resolution as well. Despite the deputy prime minister8217;s soundbites from Washington and partymen8217;s loud protestations here in New Delhi. This is not about the rivalry between individuals. It matters in as much as it speaks of larger things 8212; factionalism within the BJP, for instance, or the nuances of the party8217;s agenda. The chintan baithak will be watched closely, then, and not just for what it says about polling dates. It will be watched, most of all, for the political argument it generates and the direction it gives to longer-running issues.