Only a PR exercise

In his article, 8216;Six and shining8217; IE, April 7, Arun Jaitley has dwelt upon only one aspect of the BJP8217;s Vision Document, th...

In his article, 8216;Six and shining8217; IE, April 7, Arun Jaitley has dwelt upon only one aspect of the BJP8217;s Vision Document, the one that projects his party8217;s project of making India a developed nation by 2020. On numerous other issues, he has kept a discreet silennce.

For example, in an attempt to woo religious minorities, secularists, and middleclass voters to the party, the BJP8217;s master strategist has not developed on what the party really means by 8220;swadeshi8221;. Is its privileging Hindus over other communities? For what else could a negotiated settlement 8220;in an atmosphere of mutual trust8221; mean when the only option the Muslims have is to accept the parivar8217;s offer to 8220;graciously8221; spare other mosques 8212; for instance those at Mathura and Kashi 8212; in exchange for the demolished Babri Masjid?

Jaitley8217;s party is, in fact, deceiving the public by using the Gandhian terminology of Ram Rajya, which calls for a society based on development for all Indians irrespective of caste or creed and represents the desires of the people, while actually advocating just the opposite.

Gone are the days when the party could claim that the Ram mandir issue is dear to it because it is 8220;linked to the people8217;s emotions8221;. According to the recently held Indian Express NDTV ACNielsen opinion poll, only 1 per cent of 45,578 voters spread over 207 of 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, are concerned about the Ram temple at Ayodhya. The poll clearly suggests that the 8220;aam8221; Indian is sick and tired with frequent communal tensions and riots in the country and does not like any party to support extremist groups in their lawless deeds.

Instead of promising communal harmony by strongly condemning the communal elements in Gujarat, the BJP has supported its hardliners by promising an anti-conversion law, glossing over the fact that, so far, not even a single person has been found guilty of forced or fraudulent conversion under the various conversion laws. Besides, the Christian community8217;s plea to amend the existing loosely worded laws on conversion, which can lead to blatant abuse, has also fallen on deaf ears.

Given its communal legacy, the overnight 8220;conversion8221; of the BJP into a moderate party committed to development is just an eyewash. This 8220;moderate8221; portrayal in the run up to the elections by energetic first generation entrepreneurs like Jaitley, just does not cut ice.