Make it new

As the second-largest political party in India,which still commands 116 seats and enormous goodwill,why does the BJP appear like such a train wreck? Since the elections dispiriting performance,the party has been inundated with gratis advice from left and right,telling it what went wrong and suggesting a complete reboot. Some decry the partys shrill rhetoric as counterproductive and out of touch. Some,like Brajesh Mishra,point to serious strategic errors in its failure to disavow Varun Gandhi and smearing Manmohan Singh,while others place the blame on the BJPs lack of solidarity. At the other end,the RSS has pitched into the party for forgetting where it came from,urging it to proudly claim its fire-breathing Hindutva side. Within the party itself,the murmurs of discontent are getting louder and more damaging. Jaswant Singhs blistering letter to party president Rajnath Singh has also made the partys succession tensions obvious.

That the BJP is engulfed by discord is clear. What remains to be seen is whether this weakens and divides the party,or whether these are beneficial growing pains,as the BJP painstakingly transforms itself into a responsible conservative counterweight to the Congress,a fulcrum for a centre-right coalition that Indias politics will always need. It would be tragic if,at this critical turn,the BJP reacts out of negativity and fearfulness,and misses the opportunity for a much needed overhaul.

We hope that this internal dissent does not remain confined to a petty succession squabble at a time when the BJP desperately needs to craft a new governing philosophy. As contexts shift,political parties change with them,keeping only their essential core. Is the BJPs ideological kernel hardcore Hindutva rabble-rousing,or is it the constructive reform-heavy agenda that its manifesto outlined? For a long time,the BJP had it both ways,hewing to one side or the other depending on the situation. Now,it might be time to decisively choose it owes itself this cogency,and it owes us. The Congress has,all said and done,announced an ambition of grassroots rejuvenation and of undoing its patronage-driven style of politics. The BJP must also figure out its own makeover to remain relevant in this young,ambitious country.