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Journalism of Courage
On the Tuesday after the Monday spent in frenzied parleys 8212; involving a high-powered RSS delegation and prominent BJP seniors in the Capital 8212; the BJP denied that the RSS had called for the head of its chief and asserted that L.K. Advani will not step down. The denial is not persuasive. The assertion is welcome but it may not be enough. It will do little to stanch the public speculation dramatically touched off by Advani8217;s comments on Jinnah, and cunningly nourished by all sides ever since. Though nearly all the BJP leaders remain tightlipped in public, it is well known that the party is in turmoil and that at stake is its future and its ties with the RSS. But, equally, it is beginning to seem that the ideas and the issues are being guided into a backseat. What has come to occupy the centre stage in the party and in the parivar, instead, is the uncivil haggling over the endpoint of Advani8217;s tenure.
This is tragic, for the BJP. Advani8217;s observations in Pakistan had promised a new politics, a take-off point for a reinvented party. At the very least, they provided the cue for a long-overdue rethink on its direction in the 21st century. All political parties need to occasionally review and revise their political agenda and priorities. The ones that don8217;t are the ones that fail to grow. The BJP has also been recently rebuffed by the people. This was the opportune moment, then, for the party to reassess its career with an eye to the future. Now, those possibilities look like they may all be surrendered. In narrowing down the debate to negotiations over the length of Advani8217;s tenure as party president, the BJP does immense disservice not just to its stalwart but primarily to itself.
