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Journalism of Courage
At long last,the BJP has decided to reshuffle its top management Sushma Swaraj takes over from L.K. Advani as leader in the Lok Sabha,and Rajnath Singh is expected to hand over to Nitin Gadkari as party president. Advani has been kicked upstairs rather nicely,and as parliamentary party chairman,he will ensure that Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley are technically on par,and ostensibly provide sage counsel from above. The RSS has been pressing hard on the BJP to effect this organisational shake-up,and it has,inevitably,been cause for much bitter jostling and warring within the party.
But the point is,how persuasive is the BJPs makeover? The faces may be younger,but they employ the same curdled rhetoric. Since the Lok Sabha results the party has done nothing to convince that it is serious about eliminating the ideological deadwood. The BJPs infighting and floundering have ensured that the country has functioned without a real opposition,despite there being all too much to oppose the government on. Whether it is price rise,climate change or handling of the Telangana issue,the BJP has been unable to control the conversation or figure out where its centre of gravity lies. At one point,it seemed that the BJP would try and reinvent itself from the right and yet,during the Liberhan ruckus,a moment of real reckoning,it failed. What we heard was not a unified swell,but many small sniping voices hoping to play it every way. If the BJP cannot present a solid façade at a crucial moment like this,how can it be entrusted with potentially running the country? After all,despite the mortal drift,it still commands 116 seats and therefore retains the responsibility of making a meaningful intervention in the way we are governed.
