Such a short exile

A month and few days is short banishment by most standards. On November 10, Uma Bharati was suspended from primary membership of the BJP; her suspension is revoked by the party president on December 24. The startling brevity of Bharati8217;s time on the rack is intriguing. What lies behind the hurried rethink by BJP seniors? Why was such stern action taken against the conspicuous leader in the first place, if her rehabilitation was to follow so close behind? And what about those 8216;8216;issues8217;8217; she placed on the table before flouncing out of the camera frame on that dramatic November day? Do we deem them resolved, or melted away? Much as the BJP might stonewall these questions, much as it may insist they are the party8217;s internal matter, the public has the right to answers.

It is not simply because this episode played on our TV screens, live. Or because we were subsequently allowed to read the letter that Bharati wrote, and the one she allegedly wrote, to her party leadership. That is not the sole reason why we are all an audience in this theatre of Bharati8217;s abbreviated rebellion. There is a more compelling reason why the BJP owes us an explanation for the manner of the mercurial leader8217;s ghar vapasi. The political party is the institution that mediates the relationship between people and government in a representative democracy. As such, the rise and fall of leaders within the party is a matter of public consequence. The people have the right to know the criteria of success and failure and rehabilitation for individuals within the party, its notions of discipline and the implications, if any, for the party8217;s agenda. Unfortunately, we have not been questioning enough about what goes on within political parties in India. Parties, by and large, continue to escape public scrutiny, both as institutions and as bearers of political culture. This needs to change.

So, was it just a personal spat between Bharati and her competitors for the leadership mantle, post Vajpayee and Advani? Or a conflict of views, even ideology? And how has it been resolved? Or is the resolution shortcircuited by the timetable for assembly elections in the new year? Was it expedience that made the high command rush back home the rebel? We await the answers.