Vision, not hind vision

Perusing the BJP8217;s Vision Document, it would be easy to conclude that the glossy pamphlet is an attempt to smuggle the party8217;s 8220;core issues8221; into what has so far been a remarkably de-ideologised election season. After all, the commitment to the temple in Ayodhya is there in the opening pages 8212; even if only at number 14 on a priorty list 8212; the aspiration for a uniform civil code, the criticism of religious conversion by 8220;fraudulent8221; means and the oblique references to Article 370 8212; 8220;transient and temporary provisions8221; in Jammu and Kashmir 8212; all find mention. Even so, to see Vision Document in solely these terms could be both unfair and to shy away from the tension at the heart of the BJP 8212; between a congenitally oppositional party, wedded to agitprop and a party learning to settle into governance, with economic well-being as its mascot. The man who embodies this struggle is Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Not surprisingly his photograph appears on virtually every page of the document. He symbolises the faultline between Old BJP and New BJP, a faultline the document tries its best to paper over.

While some may devote their study of the Vision Document to unearthing old chestnuts such as the 8220;hidden agenda8221;, the thrust of the booklet is undoubtedly economic. It is a pointer to the contemporary political mood that a pary seeking re-election talks of infrastructure augmentation 8212; from telecom to shipping 8212; making India a knowldege economy, urban renewal and rural development, consumer choice, a democracy of stakeholders. True, there is hype and exaggeration. To blame the Congress8217; 8220;long misrule8221; for everything that is wrong with India may be electorally expedient but is otherwise questionable. To iterate the virtues of integral humanism 8212; 8220;development must be holistic8221;, whatever that means 8212; may gladden no more than Jana Sangh pensioners. Yet the focus on harnessing India8217;s economic potential speaks for a new refreshing idiom. In the long run, the BJP has to establish that this is no 8220;good time8221; affair. In future years 8212; or even future weeks 8212; when opinion polls may not look as rosy, rivals not as hangdog, the party has to adhere to its Bold New Vision, not search desperately for history8217;s rear view mirror.

In parts, the Vision Document8217;s clever draftsmanship is a pointer to how the BJP is grappling with change. Repackaging swadeshi as India First, declaring Hindutva as synonymous with Bharatiyata, Indianness and cultural nationalism 8212; if this means lip service to old festishes while adhering broadly to the new path, one can grant the party its editorial flourishes. The test in in political management. As such, the Vision Document represents both challenge and opportunity for the party.