The missing H-word

In Mumbai in June, the BJP met to ponder its electoral rout and map out the 8216;8216;Tasks Ahead8217;8217;. At that time, those who had hoped that India8217;s main Opposition party would be genuinely reflective, even forward-looking, in defeat were disappointed at the tenor of the soundbites. The Mumbai rhetoric was mostly about 8216;8216;back to basics8217;8217;. There was restrictive talk about the 8216;8216;core8217;8217; ideology and 8216;8216;core8217;8217; issues of a 8216;8216;Hindu party8217;8217; and the facile pitting of these against the BJP8217;s attempts at political outreach. The message that filtered out from Mumbai was of a party going into a huddle and seeking succour in jaded slogans, a party defensively ruling out the need for change. The signals from Goa are markedly different 8212; and hopeful. If at Mumbai the BJP had pledged to sally forth against all those 8216;8216;who reject Hindutva as the basic identity of the Indian nation8217;8217;, its 10-point charter at Dona Paula scrupulously avoids the word 8216;Hindutva8217;.

For sure, that absence may be less spectacular than it looks. It is possible to argue that Hindutva dots the 10-point statement by another name. It is there, for instance, in the insistent invocation by the party of 8216;8216;ideological orientation8217;8217; and 8216;8216;nationalism8217;8217;, and hasn8217;t the BJP also promised a campaign against 8216;8216;competitive pseudo-secularism8217;8217; of the Congress, Communists, UPA? Others will point out that the apparent circumspection at Goa with regard to Hindutva along with the emphatic eloquence on the importance of coordinating with NDA allies, is only a strategic response to the immediate threats publicly served up by its partners. The JDU, for instance, has pointedly warned the BJP against any return to hardline politics at its national executive meet. From the BJP8217;s point of view, JDU leaders spoke with a dangerous longing of that party8217;s own 8216;8216;heritage8217;8217;, of the 8216;8216;democratic socialist movement8217;8217; in which there was no room for 8216;8216;religious bigotry8217;8217;. It could be, then, that the imperative of keeping the NDA together, especially in view of the upcoming round of assembly elections, is responsible for the moderation at Goa.

Or it could be something more. Perhaps the BJP realises that there is no going back to a narrower, outdated politics. Perhaps it realises that there is no option to press the rewind button for a national party which boasts of having led the only non-Congress government to last a full five years, and which has emerged as the grand old party8217;s main rival in the two-alliance system that is firming up after the collapse of the 8216;Congress system8217; more than a decade ago. In a country of India8217;s diversity, narrowly defined agendas will eventually be forced to rearticulate themselves with larger strokes. Perhaps the BJP is searching for a new balance. Hopefully, that is the message from Dona Paula.