Mellow Bjp Finds Delhi Dedicated But Listless

There was some saffron, in a few scarves and saris, but none of the passionate fervour of a few years ago. The rally wasnt even at Delhis vast Ramlila grounds, and there must have been only around 20,000 people at the Ambedkar stadium to hear the senior leaders of the BJP and its allies.

No one raised a lusty cry of `Jai Shri Ram. The slogan emblazoned behind the impressive looking stage promised freedom from bhook, bhay aur bhrashtachar (hunger, fear and corruption). Even the teenagers there, and there was a sprinkling, must have heard a variation on that theme before, and it probably stopped inspiring somewhere around the time Eva Peron went out of fashion. Or was it Indira Gandhi?

 

The closest thing to passion was in the stands at the back, where part of the crowd disrupted speeches when the overzealous police locked the gate on a few hundred people waiting to get in. The speeches werent really envigorating. The theme was jaded Atal Behari Vajpayee is the man of the hour. The sub-theme had a little more spark Sonia Gandhi has no business to be the prime minister.

The Delhi Police made its presence felt. Their thorough body searches did not miss a cigarette packet, though cellular phones and there were plenty seemed to get through. I found it rather humiliating, said Rajvir Sharma, a businessman. A first-time BJP supporter, he said he was just passing by and decided to stop and listen.

Many in the crowd seemed to be middle class, a large proportion of them typical of the RSS trader base. There were students, plus middle-aged businessmen and government servants, who had taken time off to come. There seemed to be few from the minorities, though, even Sikhs.

Businessman RK Chaudhry was all for the BJP. This is the only party that can give us a stable government. We support the BJP for its ideology and integrity.

His business partner, Abdul Rashid, said, we, Kashmiri Muslims, have never really felt part of India. . No, he said, as a Muslim, he would not feel insecure under a BJP-led government.

When asked what he thought of the BJP governments actions in UP, he said, that wasnt a compromise on ideologies. Even other parties do that, but only the BJP is singled out. Why is that?

We are Indians, and the question of religion, caste and creed doesnt arise.

Asked why was he supporting the BJP, he said: I want a change. I think this party should be given a chance.

Change was a common word. Yeh party bolti bahut hai. Dekhte hain agar kuchh karti hai ki nahin (this party makes a lot of promises. Lets see if it does anything), said a government servant. His logic about the virtues of BJP leaders was lucid, if a trifle facile: Only this party has people who are bachelors. This means they have only themselves and the country to look after.

Ex-serviceman and government servant Z Badshree said he was supporting the party for stability. The others have had their turns and it was now only fair to let BJP have a go at power, he said.

Another businessman thought the partys economic policies were okay. The BJPs swadeshi plank is sensible. We should promote our industries. MNCs are OK, but a line should be drawn somewhere. He wasnt sure where the line should be drawn, but was sure the BJP brass knew.