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Journalism of Courage
In the BJP,we put a premium on failure
It is difficult to avoid the impression that in the BJP we put a premium on failure. Our reluctance to introspect,and introspect comprehensively and openly,is unacceptable to a large number of people within the party. So is the rat race for posts.
In our anxiety to distribute amongst the few higher mortals in the party whatever goodies were available,we completely disregarded the parliamentary party constitution in the election of the office-bearers of the parliamentary party on May 31.
We are shying away from pinpointing our weaknesses and fixing responsibility. While on one hand,the party is avoiding a systematic appraisal of its performance,on the other,those who were responsible for the management of the campaign have already made their views public through interviews and articles in the media,drawn their conclusions,apportioned blame,and given themselves a clean chit. Those of us who actually toiled in the field and took all the risk have not even been heard. Let the party implement its own Kamraj Plan under which all office bearers of the party and the parliamentary party should resign from their posts,which should then be filled up through the process of election laid down by our constitution.
amp;149;Former BJP vice-president Yashwant Sinha in his letter,dated June 12,to party chief Rajnath Singh. The letter was also sent to BJPs core group members
Party leaders too self-centred to serve public cause
Accountability must be fixed for those managing the elections. There cannot be de-linking of rewards and performance in the party setup alluding to Arun Jaitleys appointment as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha,after having headed the partys Lok Sabha election campaign. Why have we refused to learn from our past defeats? And why have we not discussed the debacle of 2004 and our defeat in Assembly elections of Rajasthan and Delhi,more recently? Its surprising to see election results analysis being done through newspaper columns8230; Theres a growing tendency among party leaders becoming too self-centered to serve the public cause8230; Swa is to be found both in swayam self and swarth self-interest.
amp;149;Senior leader Jaswant Singh in a letter to party president Rajnath Singh,and later to BJPs core group members,on June 10
The ethical criterion cannot be disregarded anymore
Sober governance helps,shrillness does not. Moderation and understatement are virtues. The fact that most criminal candidates lost is itself an indication that the electorate is looking for cleaner politicians. Politics directs the life of a nation. It influences decision-making. The individuals who man it must have a tall and mature stature. The ethical criterion cannot be disregarded anymore. Many feel that Verdict 2009 gives legitimacy to India as a dynastic democracy. A cursory look at a cross-section of our young MPs suggests that most of them are inheritors of a legacy,and not those whose merit has impressed the voters.
The first message of the electorate was thus clear: they wanted a stable government free from any form of political obstruction. Why did the benefits of political stability accrue to the Congress and not the BJP? A possible reasoning could be that the Congress had a larger pan-India presence. The Congress was a victim of obstructions caused by the Left,the Samajwadi Party. The Prime Ministers own image created a sense of sympathy,that a man who wanted to deliver was being obstructed. The second message of the electorate was thus equally clear: it wanted good governance. Even in the face of the Congress surge,it spared the Opposition in states in which the chief ministers had governed well.
amp;149;BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley in an article in The Indian Express,May 27,2009
Unified command in Cong,disarray in BJP
Never in the history of the Jana Sangh or the BJP was the party enfeebled by so much disarray at the top. Although Advani was projected as the partys prime ministerial candidate,this took place after he had been disempowered after the Mohammad Ali Jinnah episode. The cropping up of Narendra Modis name in the middle of the campaign did not help. To the people of India,the contrast was obvious: there is unified command in the Congress party,but not in the BJP8230;
The mentality of a large section of the party BJP is so dogmatic that any idea of promoting the welfare and development of Indian Muslims is quickly brushed aside as appeasement. In five long years after 2004,the BJP did not come up with a single worthwhile initiative that Muslims could welcome.
Collective responsibility is laudable,but it can become a mask for those in key positions to evade individual responsibility. This has often happened in the BJP.
amp;149;L K Advani aide Sudheendra Kulkarni,in Tehelka,June 13,2009
Compiled by Suman K Jha
