The Rise And Rise Of Bjp

The space vacated by the Congress, is being increasingly occupied by the BJP. That Jayalalthia should espy some future gain in allying with the BJP instead of the Congress is comment enough on the woeful state of the 112-year-old party. The BJP on its part has shed its ideological extremities in order to make the new converts feel at home. The party no longer harps on the abolition of Article 370 or the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Able prime minister and stable government is the partys slogan in the parliamentary campaign. The slogan could well make a difference to its fortunes considering that its prime ministerial aspirant enjoys a good image. Besides, the fall of three governments within a span of 20 months could also persuade a lot of people to vote for it.

 

Ab key baari, Atal Behari (this time, Atal Behari as PM) is an evocative slogan, indeed. In fact, all other rival formations lack a convincing leader. Neither Sitaram Kesri nor I K Gujral can measure up to Vajpayees appeal. Their authority is being challenged in their respective groups. If Gujral leads but only notionally the UF, Kesris leadership is being put to a severe test daily. All deserters from the party have singled him out for his uninspiring leadership.

If Kesri has spent a life-time in the Rajya Sabha, his challenger for leading the Congress, Arjun Singh, came a poor third in the last election in his home constituency Satna, in Madhya Pradesh. As for Gujral, his search for a safe seat finds him smack in the lap of the Akali Dal, that rules Punjab in alliance with the BJP.

This is not to suggest that all is well in the BJP. Far from it. In state after state the party is riven by dissensions. That the leadership has failed to resolve the lingering dispute between the Delhi chief minister Sahib Singh Verma and his predecessor, Madan Lal Khurana, reflects poorly on it. The recent rebellion by Uma Bharati against the leadership in Madhya Pradesh makes mockery of its claim to be a disciplined party. In fact, even at the national level there is tension among the senior leaders despite the public show of bonhomie. Of the troika, M M Joshi has been sidelined whereas Advani and Vajpayee have established a good working relationship in spite of their differences on vital issues.

The party is divided between the purists, who fear that short-termism would do more harm than good to the party, and the new practitioners of realpolitik who argue that the party cannot wait indefinitely for power as it alone plays by the rules while others resort to foul means to deprive it of its due.

Besides, the performance of the BJP governments in states is nothing to write home about. Nor is the party leadership free from the taint of corruption. The manner in which wheeler-dealers are making a beeline for the party, bodes ill for it. The courtiers, they say, remain the same, only the court changes. The BJP is a winner already if one went by the number of operators gravitating towards it.

However, the hype created by it may fail to translate into a majority for the party. Most new entrants will be a problem for the BJP as they seek tickets much to the chagrin of long-term loyalists. Incidentally, the party was not short on hype even for the 1996 poll. Since then the only factor in its favour is the failure of the UF governments and the steep decline in the Congresss fortunes. But this could be of marginal help, since large tracts in the country remain impervious to the saffron overtures.