Try harder

At the partys two-day national executive meeting,the BJP decided the UPAs crisis is its big chance,and told its cadre to gird themselves for mid-term elections. While the party is suddenly alive with activity and ambition,with many of its leaders making their bids for supremacy,L.K. Advanis decision to embark on another rath yatra and Narendra Modis sadbhavana-themed marketing of himself destabilised the current checks and balances within the party between Sushma Swaraj,Arun Jaitley,Nitin Gadkari and others. Modi made a point of skipping the national meeting,as did the recently discredited B.S. Yeddyurappa and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. The BJPs seams are clearly showing,and as Swaraj stressed at the meeting,nurturing a sense of internal cohesion will be the partys first challenge,and the second will be to consolidate its alliances.

More importantly,though,what does this party with a difference have to offer at the moment? Apart from trying to capitalise on the governments drift,it is not evident that they have strengthened their own machine this unpreparedness is especially on show in crucial states like Uttar Pradesh. They have not offered their own policy prescriptions to counter the UPAs missteps. In fact,even claiming a higher ground on corruption is a struggle for the party. It has shouted louder than the rest on many issues,from 2G to inflation or the cash-for-votes scandal,but it has not really commanded the oppositional space as a party with prescriptions; it has merely reacted. It has not demonstrated how its own approach to governance is a superior alternative. The party needs to make a deeper mental impress,to position itself as a better choice by espousing clear,forward-looking views on the issues that confront the nation.

Unfortunately,its own compromises hobble it,and do not permit it to be forthright on questions like natural resource allocation,given the Karnataka mess. Its approach to Parliament too is revealing legislative work was stalled as a substitute for constructive opposition on the floor of the House. If the BJP truly wants to build on the governments failures,it will have to do more and prove that it has novel and transformative ideas.