The Arjun metaphor

After appearing to cravenly succumb to the Sangh Parivar8217;s formidable powers of bullying and mud-slinging, the BJP and its president, L...

After appearing to cravenly succumb to the Sangh Parivar8217;s formidable powers of bullying and mud-slinging, the BJP and its president, L.K. Advani, chose to do some much required straight talking. Both have emerged from that exercise with their stature enhanced. Because the most significant query that emerged from the tumultuous events of last week was whether India8217;s most important opposition party would allow itself to be subsumed by the agendas and interests of fraternal bodies that had no democratic mandate of their own and were in no way accountable to the Indian voter. In fact by letting these bodies know just where they get off and by rallying to the side of its president, the BJP was only doing what it should have done at least a week ago.

The party8217;s resolution on the Jinnah controversy and Advani8217;s apparent agreement with it, had raised questions about his ability to persist with the courageous paradigm shift in party perspective that he had initiated through his comments in Pakistan. The regret over the Babri Masjid demolition, the acknowledgement of Jinnah8217;s secularism and 8212; what is perhaps the most significant of all 8212; the rejection of the old Akhand Bharat framework as an anachronism, together represent what is perhaps the boldest attempt yet to rejig the party ideologically and keep it in sync with changing times and circumstances. Change can be tackled in one of two ways: either through avoidance or through engagement. While in the short term it may be convenient to opt for the former approach 8212; there is always comfort in permanence 8212; the demands of the long term require the fortitude to grapple with dilemmas and come up with answers. Ever the politician, Advani has taken care to dwell on the symbols and statements which have resonance within the party to execute that paradigm shift. Like Arjun, he says he cannot afford to retreat from the field of duty. It was Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, he points out, who had acknowledged that Partition was irreversible and BJP manifestos had dropped the idea of Akhand Bharat since 1952. It was the late Swami Ranganathanda of the Ramakrishna Mission who had drawn his attention to Jinnah8217;s 1947 speech. Advani sticks to the shoreline, even as he tests the turbulent ocean of change.

How all this will play out politically we will have to see. But there can be no denying that the BJP president had unleashed a process which 8212; while it may or may not benefit him personally 8212; will certainly help his party find a new relevance in the days ahead. For that, the BJP president deserves his party8217;s gratitude.