Is the BJP turning senile?

India’s right-wing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition party at the Centre and in power in 11 states, is crumbling. After facing a humiliating defeat in its bid to corner the central United Progressive Alliance government over the nuclear deal last week in the Parliament and having lost considerable ground in the currency-waving scandal, the party is seemingly loosing its moral and psychological balance. Just when the nation is shocked over the terror caused by blasts in India’s two big cities – Bangalore and Ahmedabad – one of BJP’s top spokespersons Sushma Swaraj on Monday alleged, exhibiting a new low of moral bankruptcy in the party, that the blasts were engineered to divert attention from the Note-For-Vote scandal. This was a direct reference to the Congress party which leads an umbrella of coalition at the Centre.

While the Congress has surely reacted with rage, for common people, this marks a new low in Indian politics, coming as it is after another gloomy episode of currency waving scandal in the Parliament, in which also, BJP had a key role to play.

The comments by Swaraj is in a series of such baseless and mindless utterances by senior BJP leaders in the recent past.

First, L K Advani said on July 22 that the three BJP MPs who had waved wads of currency in the Parliament had his approval – a veteran leader like him could not foresee the kind of damage it could inflict on India’s pristine institution. Then in the aftermath of party protesters turning violent and attacking houses of MPs who had defected in the Trust Vote over Nuclear Agreement, another spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said recklessly that the attacked MPs should go and seek shelter and support from 10 Janpath (Where Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi resides) and Prime Minister. This was a bizarre and one of the most irresponsible statements one could think of from a mature party like BJP.

The writing on the wall is clear. The BJP has lost the plot and in its bid to outsmart its key opponent is making ridiculous accusations and moves. Strangely, the party which shouts in coarse voice over corruption is itself deep-neck into it all: in Operation Chakravyuh, a sting carried out by a TV channel to expose MPs who took money for raising questions in the Parliament, most MPs were from BJP. The first sting op in the Country by one Tehelka.com exposed the then BJP president taking cash as bribe. A leading columnist, quoting Media Watch group, wrote in a Hindi newspaper Punjab Kesari on Monday (July 28, 08) that every 8th MP in BJP’s pack of 130 in the Parliament is tainted. Also the group found that BJP has the maximum number of tainted MPs: 22.

Incidentally, the maximum number of MPs who defected on this Trust Vote, too were from BJP highlighting the moral bankruptcy of the party. Now if amid all this the party claims to preach and follow the most truthful path, it sounds plain absurd.

A friend commented in desperation, “I didn’t know craving for power mixed with lack of it could make BJP leadership so rudderless and senile.”

UPA punctures Karat's bloated ego, NDA scurrys for cover

Notwithstanding the many controversies surrounding it and high-pitched moral clatter by media and political double-standards, the two-day Parliament session turned out to be a bold statement on current political situation. The Congress and SP emerged as clear winners, adept at political realignments and wooing fence-sitters. Despite their high moral grounds BJP stood miserably exposed and has lots to worry about its pack ahead of the next General Elections.

The scenes unfolded as per the script. The two-day session of Indian Parliament, as expected, turned out to be a tumultuous one with all the ingredients making it resemble a sordid Bollywood flick: drama, suspense, vulgarity and an uncanny climax. It would be unfair to say it did not have its moment of glory as well: speeches of Omar Abdullah, Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Yadav, Pranab Mukherjee and Asdaduddin Owaisi certainly added moments of sparkle in the otherwise gloomy session on July 21 & 22 called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek a Trust Vote before his government goes ahead with the crucial Safeguards Agreement negotiations with IAEA a vital step leading to the formal announcement of Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Agreement.

Ugly scenes and uglier consequences

The climax turned out to be the most melodramatic, as if straight from the sleeves of a creepy director who sees little beyond the immediate. Three BJP MPs waving wads of currency pretending as if they were the only epitome of integrity in this country of deceitful people was certainly a dark moment in the history of Indian Parliament. One wonders if the idiotic scenes could yield much except fanning the already severe antipathy of people for the political class. For the BJP which may have thought this act of its three MPs to be a masterstroke – with the backing of senior leader L K Advani – the plot went horribly awry.

UPA punctures Karat’s bloated ego

The UPA won, as was largely believed, and by a respectable margins. One was aghast at the brazen embracing of morality by all and sundry, journalists included, and suddenly the air was filled with bickering on how the Trust Vote had turned into Distrust and what not. Whatever the skeptics may say, the verdict was out: UPA had won and had severed an injurious blow to the ballooning self-esteem of CPI M’s Prakash Karat, who despite never winning even a municipal elections, had taken it upon himself to dwarf the soaring ambition of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Agreement.

As it transpires now the nuisance created by Karat all these months did not have any ideological basis – many believed that this man stood firm on an ideology and hence the opposition to Nuclear deal – but rather emanated from his whims, which many believe could have a root somewhere in China! (We shall return to this in a subsequent posting) What else would explain his desperate attempts at cobbling up disparate elements to pose a ‘formidable’ frontal attack on the UPA government at the floor of the Parliament.

In the end, nothing of this materialized. The Left got a humiliating repartee and so did the BJP. BSP too got a blow despite the heroics of its leader Mayawati. Rest did not matter.

UPA, SP net gainers

The two clear gainers were UPA and especially the Congress and SP. It’s well known Manmohan Singh had made it a personal issue and his party had soon fallen into toeing his line, which is nothing short of historic. Had the UPA and Congress lost this battle, the Opposition camp would have been upbeat. While the Left would have taken a strong moral ground, NDA and especially BJP would have gone to town pooh-poohing the government over its “minority” status and “weak” dealing of the Nuclear Agreement. Ahead of the elections, this would have demoralized the Congress which is already not too high on the electoral front having lost over a dozen state Assemblies since it rode back to Centre in a dramatic reversal of fortunes after the 2004 General Elections.

SP too gained, both from a short-term and a long-term perspective. In the short-run, it reasserted itself as a responsible party with a progressive outlook and not jumping over to the Opposition camp just for the heck of it. SP stands to gain, much like the Congress, by tying an electoral knot for UP.

UP and Bihar continue to be crucial for forming a government at the Centre and SP will play a crucial role in the elections which is likely early 2009. Anti-incumbency would have begun to crawl in and Mayawati in her new avatar as a ‘leader’ of a pack of maverick politicians could be found wavering on UP and instead expanding her all-India base in a bid to become a high-potential choice for Prime Minister’s post. SP and Congress could turn out to be a strategically important combination in UP and the two would stand to gain significantly if they play their cards well. For Mulayam Singh Yadav this is a high-stake battle and he would leave little to chance.

The New Third Front leading nowhere

One can’t miss the brouhaha over the New Third Front, with Mayawati at the Front, as Times of India said the other day. While political enthusiasts are quick to juggle out figures – together they have over 85 MPs in the Parliament – to evaluate the might of this 10-party Front, there are finer points that the analysts may be missing. Put simply, the Third Front is nothing but an assortment of opportunistic leaders and its very basis is weak. The fact that it’s not driven by any political agenda and ideology – except of course defeating UPA at the parliament’s special session – and has sprung up in less time than needed to spell New Third Front could shed enough light on its longevity. It’s a wild conglomerate of temperamental and dissipated political opportunism and has little significance whatsoever in the longer run – how can we expect a party like TDP, which is opposed to the creation of a Telangana state within Andhra Pradesh, working together with TRS, whose genesis is based on the demand for such a state. Can we expect Karat’s bloated ego, as we have seen him all these years, align with an equally mercurial Mayawati? Can we expect Ajit Singh to stick with this assortment till the end or Om Prakash Chauthala not to get lured by the NDA? Third Front is a bag full of contradictions, as it stands today.

At least this is what the NDA and even UPA would want this conglomerate turns out to be. For any rise of an equally effective rainbow of political parties would make the roads to Raisina Hills more torturous for the BJP or Congress.

A lull has descended on the political horizon after a hurricane that swept it whole of this week. But this will be short-lived. Soon, all the parties would fan out to design their scripts for the next big drama: 2009 General Elections.

Omar Abdullah keeps the hope alive

What we gained out of the special Parliament session

The two-day Parliament session, as we predicted on July 19, turned out to be among the most memorable in the history of independent Indian politics. Unfortunately, it is being remembered for all the wrong reasons: the brazen display of wads of notes by three BJP MPs and soaring tempers coupled with volley of verbal onslaught clouded the session, which was convened to discuss if we as a nation are willing to go ahead with the Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Agreement.

However, I for once, would remember this for variety of other reasons. And one among them is an impassioned speech by young and dynamic Omar Abdullah which left an indelible mark on my heart. It also left me reassured that there are few incredible sparks amid the dim and gloom of Indian politics which will eventually define the future of our polity.

Abdullah, who was assigned to speak at a critical time when a rampaging group of NDA MPs were taking the House by storm over the currency ‘scandal’, stood firm and began aptly by taking a swipe at them and asking them to give “us a voice” in a direct reference to the people and place he represented. And next few moments in that historic session belonged to this 30-year-old J&K National Conference MP from Srinagar, perhaps the most memorable for the leader himself who has been in public domain for last 10 years now.

The beauty of Abdullah’s speech lies in the fact that besides being cogent, fervent and precise, it touched upon a whole range of political issues and left a lasting impact on not only his constituency but also on a whole generation of Indian youth who pin their hope on leaders like him. He attacked the BJP and the Left, made an ardent plea for the Nuclear Agreement and argued why it was not anti-Muslim as was being made out, made a case for Kashmiris who toil hard every year to ensure success of Amarnath Yatra and rubbished Opposition claims that neither Muslims were opposed to the Nuclear Agreement nor the Agreement was anti-Muslim.

His speech had conviction, maturity, strong political messages and logical and factual prowess.

“I am a Muslim and I am an Indian and I see no distinction between the two. I don’t know why should I fear the nuclear deal. It is a deal between two countries which, I hope, will become two equals in the future,” said Abdullah, who it seems was aptly nominated Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 2000-01. He further said, “The enemies of Indian Muslims are not America or deals like these. The enemies are the same as the enemies of all those who are poor — poverty, hunger, lack of development and the absence of a voice.”

Taking a dig at the Left, Abdullah said, “Today, the Left is telling me that all secular parties should stand with the BJP to bring down this government. The same Left treated me like a political untouchable when I was with the NDA” and added articulating his acts of political rights and wrongs, “I am not a member of the UPA and don’t aspire to be one. I made a mistake to be with the NDA, especially after Gujarat riots happened. My conscience had asked me to quit NDA but I didn’t. My conscience has still not forgiven me.” He had by now made a solid point. But that was not it.

In reference to LK Advani’s reference to disturbances caused during Amarnath Yatra, Abdullah said, “Until the day there is even a single Muslim in Kashmir, from Srinagar to Amarnath, the Amarnath yatra will not be allowed to stop.”

The tall Abdullah had emerged taller at the end of his speech. In the days ahead, when political situation is likely to remain fluid, one would expect Abdullah is catapulted into bigger roles and assigned bigger challenges.

Politics will remain murky, it seems, but upright politicians like Omar Abdullah can ensure the spillover does not stink in the long run. One hopes.


Note: Some other highlights of the session were speeches of Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Yadav and AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi. We shall come back on these later.