Thursday, August 13, 2009

BJP's future tense: Don't worry, Advani isn't stepping aside


A house divided against itself cannot stand.
[Abraham Lincoln]


As the BJP’s central office-bearers and members of the so-called ‘core group’ prepare to meet in Shimla from August 19 to 21 for the much-publicised ‘chintan baithak’, two developments have grabbed media attention.
The first pertains to LK Advani. On August 7, Advani held the customary ‘last day of the session’ Press conference, although this ritual has lost its relevance given the extensive coverage of parliamentary proceedings by media, especially television channels. As expected, mediapersons were least interested in the BJP’s performance in Parliament or issues of governance and policy. They were more interested in what has come to be known as the ‘leadership issue’ of the BJP, also described as the BJP’s ‘crisis of leadership’.
Advani was asked what was the road ahead for him. Before he could respond, his deputy, Sushma Swaraj, grabbed the microphone and said, “I will answer this question. He was ‘elected’ leader of the parliamentary party for a full term of five years, not with any deadline.”
But was he remaining in the post of Leader of Opposition reluctantly or under pressure? Mr Advani replied unambiguously: “Whatever I agree to is of my own volition. The kind of political life I have had and the kind of appreciation I have had from the country, I don’t do anything reluctantly.”
There is no ambiguity here. Advani will remain Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The question of his making an exit in the near future does not arise. The impression conveyed at the Press conference is that unless someone else takes over from him, a possibility ruled out categorically, he will lead the party in the 2014 election.
On Monday, August 10, RSS Sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat met Advani in Delhi. It was a one-on-one meeting and apart from them, and anybody else to whom they may have spoken, nobody knows what transpired. But over the past three days, media has been claiming that Advani was confronted on his decision to stay put instead of stepping down for someone else to take over from him. How far this is true is anybody’s guess.
The second development pertains to former Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje. The BJP’s ‘central leadership’ wants her to step down as Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly for two reasons: To own up responsibility for the party’s defeat in the Assembly election; and, to heal the deep fissures in the State party unit on account of reported differences between her and the State unit president who has been hand-picked by Delhi.
Vasundhara is no pushover. She was formally and unanimously elected leader of the legislature party in accordance with the BJP’s constitution after the Assembly poll. She has decided to fight it out, and to demonstrate that she has the majority of the BJP legislators with her, will parade 57 of the 78 MLAs in Delhi before those who have issued marching orders to her. In brief, we haven’t heard the last word yet.
Vasundhara is not alone in being asked to carry the can for the party’s poor electoral performance which was entirely on account of infighting, motivated dissidence and poor organisation. BC Khanduri has had to step down as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand for the same reason.
It can be argued that State leaders must be held accountable for the party’s electoral performance and that they cannot wash their hands of responsibility. As a principle, this is unassailable. But must accountability stop with State level leaders? What about the accountability and responsibility of central leaders who led from the front?
The verdicts in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, we are told, amount to a rejection of the leadership of Vasundhara and Khanduri; that voters have refused to repose faith in them; and, that they failed to enthuse party cadre and sympathisers as well as hold together factions and groups.
If this is true, what does the national verdict amount to?
Does the stunning 3.32 per cent dip in the BJP’s national vote share reflect popular rejection of the party’s frontline leaders? Who should be held accountable for the fact that the party’s vote share decreased in 21 States? Who is responsible for the national tally falling to 116 seats, 22 short of the 2004 tally? Is the accountability criterion not applicable while judging central leaders?
Three months after the Lok Sabha election results were declared these questions have not disappeared, much as the central leaders of the party would want them to. On the contrary, they have gained currency following the efforts to hold Vasundhara ‘accountable’ for the electoral rout in Rajasthan while glossing over the rout at the national level.
The upcoming ‘chintan baithak’ should be seen in the context of these and other questions that have been raised since May 16. To avoid the questions would render the Shimla conclave a futile exercise.
The BJP’s leaders need to focus on five key areas to revive and rejuvenate the party:
Ideology
Organisation
Policy and programme
Governance
Performance of MPs/MLAs

But any discussion on these and related issues will be meaningless unless the credibility deficit of the leadership is resolved. Leadership flows from clarity of thought and ideas. Clarity flows from political determination to act decisively. Political determination flows from courage and conviction.
At the moment, what is most visible is the absence of courage and conviction. The rest follows.
PS: Has anybody quite figured out the purpose of releasing the Urdu edition of My Country My Life?

40 comments:

  1. Kudos once again for saying it like it is. You hit the nail on its head in your closing remarks, we are indeed witnessing an abject lack of courage and conviction. I would add imagination as well to that list.

    Unless the BJP demonstrates it has the ability to reach out to new demographic segments, build new social coalitions to break new ground, a revival is a far cry.

    In this context BS Yeddyurappa's statesmanship must be applauded for its realpolitik as well in reaching out to Tamil voters in Karnataka, Telugu voters in Bellary.

    Where is the imagination to exploit these as beachheads in adjoining districts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra ?

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  2. That the BJP needs a complete 'prakshalan', and an entirely new leadership that can win back the trust from the voters is a no brainer.Many BJP sympathisers have been saying this even before the elections.Post-election results, even the BJP parliamentaty party seems to be headed in the wrong direction.

    Leave alone reaching out to new demographic segments and social coalitions, the BJP as a party is seen as an entity past its sell-by date in Indian politics.I doubt if BJP can retain power even in the existing BJP states (including Gujarat) if this trend continues.

    This is not just the failure of BJP's top leadership and State leaders.Even the so called ideologues from RSS, the senior and ex-journalists who have climbed on to the BJP bandwagon, and the sundry friends of BJP from India's corporate world, should all accept that in rooting for LKA as PM (and the associated politics there of), we all have entirely lost touch with the ground realities in India today and did not treat the voters with respect.

    I see hope for center right politics and cultural nationalism, but not for the BJP in its current form or leadership.

    Even discussing the Chintan Bhaitak is a waste of time.Either we overthrow the current leadership and take over the Party or we resign ourselves to being an informal pressure group in the public domain for center right policies.

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  3. Why the hell BJP dose not expose our Media? Why dose it not connect with common man. As a supporter of BJP one question keeps on coming to my mind is what BJP did when it was in power?From 1999 to 2003? i know they did many things but any thing outstanding Advani ji did which would have changed course of history? Why did they not exposed forigen hands in our security policy( I mean US/UK) and not Pakistan.Pakistan is just an agent.I feel they were eagre to comply with forigenres more than congress thats my worry.How did BJP become courrupt? Thats what it needs to think? Has it become party of Pimps like congress? These are core things that worry me as common man and supporter of BJP.

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  4. It is nice to see V Raje getting bi-partisan support from both Kanchan & Swapan, though they have difference of view on Advani & Jaitley.

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  5. Give up on the BJP. Its decline, which started in 2004, will continue in the next two Lok Sabha elections.

    Let us not tie our combined fate to BJP's receding fortunes. Let there be a new setup where BJP is just a minor player.

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  6. If Advaniji was elected as the leader of the opposition for the full term of 5 years, who was it that sought to create an impression that he would be there temporarily and hand over the responsibility to an younger leader by December? Who was it that engineered the media stories to give that impression? Why did Advaniji and his deputy not made the position abundantly clear at that point of time itself? It is sad to see a leader of Advaniji's stature gaining the image of clinging on to power with out really owning the responsibility for the defeat of the party in 2009 general elections. Top leadership must do a honest and in-depth analysis of the reasons for defeat rather than carrying on a mere ritual exercise. At 82, it would be appropriate for Advaniji to gracefully retire from active politics or atleast step aside from the post of leader of opposition and play a meaningful role as a senior mentor and guide. Advanji can play a leading role in national life even without being in the post of leader of opposition in Lok Sabha.

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  7. Its not the failure of Bjp leadership, its the failure of the Indian nation in not electing a responsible government. More than 50 years congress has been ruling our country, Look at the state of our country. Today we celebrated Independence day but are we really Independent. Yesterday on 14 th August three farmers committed suicide in vidarbha and in andhr pradesh. Over 5000 farmers hae committed suicide in last 3 years. Most of India still lives below the poverty line. No proper education for the children, no healthcare, women still being illtreated and yet our media and people of India have all the time in criticizing Bjp.

    We the people of India and the Media should the questioning Manmohan and Sonia gandhi.

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  8. This is an old story in new form. It is about freedom and democracy. An old person holds on to a public position for too long - some next level leaders strengthen their position by supporting the old leader - every new aspirant has to contend with being tagged as arrogant, selfish - the net result is that the old leader stays till his end, and secretaries and the personal assistants gain in importance. All dissenting voices are silenced by using the twin forces of the old leader's moral authority, and his sidekicks's financial, physical, and organisational power.

    Please note that this history repeats itself because people allow it to. About 3-4 years ago, I did raise these issues, specifically about BJP, on one popular blog. No foul language, no long posts, just plain questions about BJP and its functioning. Promptly, the owner of the blog declared that iamfordemocracy's comments would be summarily deleted. The followers of his blog (he calls it a Hindu Nationalist blog) accepted the censorship without any protest whatsoever.

    There used to be a blog. spindianexpress.blogspot.com. It was taken down, I suspect, forcibly by some big powers. Nobody complained. More recently Abhijeet Kunte was forced to apologise for blogging and saying something against a powerful media house. He was silenced and nobody complained. There is no trace of his thoughts on the matter.

    It seems to me that the right wing or Hindu nationalist bloggers blog for fun and timepass. They will never take a stand in any matter. Forget BJP, it is a big organisation in the real world with many genuine problems (people looking at it from a distance can never really hope to understand or influence its functioning) of its own. Will BJP supporters ever take a stand on any matter just in the blogworld?

    I will challenge anyone here. Can you force rajeev2004.blogspot.com owner to accept all comments that follow whatever rules he wishes to make and list? Can you get C. Kunte to restart his blog? Can you get true freedom and democracy to function anywhere?

    If you cannot, forget about any improvement in BJP in terms of freedom and democracy. Forget about Hinduism, forget about India. The India in your dreams, your BJP supporter folks, will remain in dreams.

    P.S. (Most recently, rajeev2004.blogspot.com has opened a tirade against swapan dasgupta. I would like to write a few lines in support of swapan but I cannot. )

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  9. iamfordemocracy: As a rule, all readers are welcome to record their comments on posts that appear on this blog. I do not monitor or clear comments. However, I do insist that freedom of speech does not mean salacious commentary or personal attacks. Offensive comments are best avoided. It is also not fair that we should discuss other blogs on this blog. Agent Provocateur should be judged on its own merit. Nonetheless, so long as comments are not open to be construed as offensive, personal attacks and libellous/salacious, any and all comments can be posted here without fear of censorship/deletion. I may add that after the Supreme Court's recent ruling, I am legally responsible for what appears on my blog. Which calls for caution and restraint. K.

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  10. Dear Mr. Kanchan Gupta, thanks for your observations. I am willing to obey every rule that you clearly spell out here.

    Now, here is a simple question. In the comment I posted, can you point out to something that is personal or objectionable? ( Is a Hindu Nationalist blog by a columnist of a respected national website, I ask you, a personal blog? Please enlighten me. I am dying to hear something said on this issue.)

    BTW, is this your personal blog? That too would be an interesting thing to debate.

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  11. The reason for LKA releasing the Urdu version is quite clear - he's looking forward to be PM at 86 yrs of age. An email is in circulation in some Hindu Nationalist email groups which quotes an anonymous BJP leader, purportedly to be of high stature, having met LKA and when asked to comment (strategise) on BJP's electoral rout, said that BJP can no more rely on "82% of the population". I'm inclined to think that his book release is his latest endeavor to win over the remaining 18% .... err, 15% ... or whatever.

    PS - I've previously had the pleasure of talking "democracy in Rajeev's blog" with iamfordemocracy. I would like to simply add that we (many of us) Indians have a very perverse idea of democracy or freedom - that it provides us with an opportunity to write something or do anything, anywhere, unchecked. No wonder China is steadily marching ahead of us!

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  12. Guys,
    4 months back all of us were full of effusive praise for Advaniji. Just because we got slaughtered in an election doesn't mean we start shovelling dirt on Advaniji.

    We all know that the BJP wouldn't be anywhere nearing even hoping to form a govt if not for Advaniji. So I think we should maintain that respect.

    Advaniji has always been the first one to put party above self - witness the nomination of ABV for PM in 95. So to say that he is aiming to be PM candidate in 2014 for selfish gains is unacceptable in my view.

    You can bet your life that Rahul Gandhi will be the Congress' candidate in 2014 (if he isn't PM already by then). Advaniji will be the first to acknowledge that if at 81 he couldn't beat the Congress notionally lead by a 75 year old, there is no way at 86 he is going to beat a Congress lead by a 43 year old. If he is the PM candidate, we all will still support him, but the rest of the 'independents' wont.

    Now I see nothing wrong in reaching out to the other 18%. But I think it is wrong to ascribe that as the motive for Advaniji publishing the book in Urdu. He has published it in all languages, to reach all Indians. Some Indians will read it in Urdu, and hopefully better appreciate the great leader that is Advaniji.

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  13. Bhavananda, as I said earlier, you (like many others) blog for pleasure and fun. You have proved it yet again by saying so. Kanchan Gupta’s latest post was about BJP’s future and it did say something about people being silenced in an undemocratic manner. That is what prompted me to comment. Democracy does not and will not fall from heavens; thousands will have to take a stand about it. Also, you will not succeed with a big institution overnight; you will have to begin from some smaller projects.

    Many voices have been silenced in India. Many will continue to be silenced in an undemocratic manner. I know of one where I am not allowed to comment. You can take ANY case of your choice and try to bring about a change. Eventually, if the revolution for freedom pervades the blogosphere, there is some hope it will spill over….

    I have no fight or argument of personal nature with anyone, least of all with Rajeev Srinivasan who is doing excellent work in his own way. My question is, where does one begin if one wants to see a greater play of democracy? You tell me.

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  14. @iamfordemocracy: The internet as a whole (including the blogosphere) is the greatest democratic institution we've ever seen. This means that "every voice counts". Yours counts too and you've made yours amply clear in YOUR blog. What you are simply ignoring is another blog owner has democratic rights too - to maintain a line of discussion in his/her personal blog (yes, its personal not public place).

    No one is shuffling dirt at LKA because he lost elections, but only because he's shown NO sign of accountability. In other words, he's simply taking the support for granted. Initially, I supported LKA to continue for a few months so that BJP doesn't get into an all out rebellion while settling the leadership question. But, that crucial phase is over; if Raje and Khanduri had to resign, so should he. Isn't this amply clear from KG's blogpost?

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  15. The following comments from the RSS Chief at Chennai marks the end of that 'umbilical cord'.

    http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/rss-chief-says-he-has-issued-no-%5Cdirective%5C-to-advani-to-quit/70892/on

    "In reply to a query, Bhagawat, who is here to attend a "Grand Reception" being accorded to him by "Citizens of Chennai" tomorrow, said RSS would help not only BJP "but any political party that comes and seeks our help. We are always ready to help them."

    RSS chiefs do not say too many things. Shortly after 2004, Sri Sudarshan spoke about younger leadership in BJP and vajpayee / advani retiring in an interview. That was ignored. This too will be ignored. But in 2014, the numbers will tell us the importance of this comment.

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  16. Ah! One more article on what the BJP should do. We all know that by now, dont we? We dont have the power to do anything, so we take solace is reading/writing/thinking about things. No offense Kanchan da, I commiserate.

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  17. Mr Gupta. Why shed tears over Jaswant Singh? Is this responsible conduct coming from a senior leader. What was the need to write a book on Jinnah and criticise Nehru and Patel. The timing was so bad from BJP point of view. Right when it was getting its act together, this guy goes on TV and says Jinnah is a great man.

    Now for heaven's sake he is also a senior leader of the party. He cannot become an academic suddenly.

    These views will create problem for the BJP's cadre and has disappointed even the middle class supporters.

    Didn't Jaswant Singh work against party interests in Rajasthan.

    Sorry to say but this guy is just looking for some limelight.

    Most middle class BJP supporters are happy to see hom go except a few like you.

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  18. What is harm in releasing the book in urdu. Has Mr. gupta read the book. I think more ignorant Indians should read the book and then judge the bjp. Please dont believe the lies media is feeding. All they are interested is in maligning the bjp and letting the congress go scot free for everything.

    It happens only in India where the media is so obsssessed with the opposition in this case only the Bjp rather than keeping the check on the ruling government.

    Well why not after all they are rewarded by the Padmashri awards by the congress to the likes of prannoy roy, barkha dutt, rajdeep sardesia.

    Its so obvious at what they are doing that any idiot can see through this. i wonder what's wrong with the indian masses. are they blind, deaf or plain dumb or may be not bothered and indifferent towards the nation .

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  19. Shail: Obviously you haven't read the book. Or else you would not have made this comment. I have been quoted at length in the book, my name figures in the index of the book (only one of two journalists whose names figure in the index) and I have reviewed it for Outlook.

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  20. Expelling Jaswant Singh from the party was absolutely unnecessary. He was just a single MP with dissenting views and nothing else.

    If they had to do it for larger reasons that are not visible to bjp supporters, they should have made those reasons clear and public.

    Without those, the best course was not doing anything.

    My take - Those who are playing faction games by promoting their own chosen few, not willing to let go despite very old age, are dismissing Jaswant Singh and making it look like it was because he criticized RSS. Silly stupid game.

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  21. And what next? something for Shourie and Modi?

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  22. Modi forced Jaswant's expulstion for his alleged anti-Patel comments that goes against the "core ideology" of BJP. Now read:

    Sardar Patel had charged RSS with spreading "communal poison", resulting in assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948.

    "As a final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the valuable life of Gandhiji," Patel wrote to RSS chief MS Golwalkar on September 11, 1948.

    "Even an iota of sympathy of the government or of the people no more remains for the RSS. The opposition [to the RSS] turned more severe when the RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhiji's death," Patel wrote.

    Defending the government's decision to ban the RSS, Patel said that in these conditions it had become inevitable for the government to take action against the RSS.

    Patel said speeches of RSS leaders were full of communal poison and it was not necessary to spread poison to protect and organise Hindus.

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  23. I wonder what do great minds of BJP -Modi, Jaitley, Katiyar, Rajnath, MM Joshi, Prasad, Advani, Swaraj - have to say about Sardar's comments! Do they accept what Sardar said about and did to RSS? That should be THE core question our media should ask BJP geniuses and unthinking, blind supporters! Let us also not forget that he was Congressman, not member of BJS-BJP and that he was the first one to ban RSS and put thousands of workers and leaders in jail (under a version of POTA then). How convenient to use Sardar bogey!

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  24. Sorry Mr. Gupta I didnt notice your name.I am reading the book but its a long book , its going to take me a while.

    But i still see no harm if the book is released in urdu or any other language.

    And all this hulla bulla that the media is creating over bjp , is getting too much. Most of it is so obviously lies and the way they sneer and scorn over the bjp leadership is disgusting. When congress lost nobody dared asked Sonia gandhi to resign. Why these double standards.

    More than half the country in under drought, farmers are committing suicide, foreign policy is gone for a toss,rice scam, dal scam, delhi metro disaster, swine flu crisis, guns scam, students in australia etc you name it and the governement has failed. And I am not even getting into the failures of congress party last five years or should i say 50 years. Any self respecting Indian would be angry but yet our media doesnt have the guts to take on the mighty Gandhi's or the congress party , but have all the time to riducule the bjp even when they dont deserve it.

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  25. We are talking about the loss of election by BJP so focus will be on problems being faced by BJP, its weaknesses, etc., not the record of Congress or the biases / conduct of media. Media is a medium, not the source. The source is the conduct of BJP and its leadership. You can talk about Congress all your life or biases of media or expell few more thorns on the dise of controllers of BJP (Shourie, Sinha) but that is NOT going to solve party's problems or make it winner. As the things stand today and trend in past few years, there is not much hope for BJP. Of coruse, as a big beast, it will not die suddenly but, unless there is a genuine course correction, fresh ideas, new leadership and a forward looking agenda, it will die!

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  26. Anonymous @ Friday, August 21, 2009
    said:


    "We are talking about the loss of
    election by BJP so focus will be on problems being faced by BJP, its weaknesses, etc., not the record of Congress or the biases / conduct of media. Media is a medium, not the source"

    Wrong. Media does manufacture alternative realities. Prime example Pink chaddi campaign. No one in the media asked how safe New Delhi is for women in broad day light.

    It is important to discuss Congress record and also Media bias. Media needs to a little credibility, once this fig leaf of credibility is lost Indian ELM will be in dire financial problems like American MSM.

    BJP should take a leaf out of Republicans and question media bias every step of the way.

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  27. While BJP remains bogged down with infighting, the process of Islamisation of India will accelerate. Get ready for another partition in near future. There will be no direct action day/ Genocide as directed by "Secular" Jinnah in 1946, but a steady growth of Islamisation that will lead to next partition. Aligarh in UP will be the next Islamabad. Kolkata will be the next Karachi.

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  28. Media bias did not stop BJP from winning 180+ seats in 1998 & 1999!

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  29. During 1998 electronic media was not that strong. Its only after 24x7 media channel have sprung up, to keep their trp's going they are finding a soft target in bjp.

    Media is more like a saas bahu serial these days, with more masala and entertainment rather than exposing ther truth and showing the facts they are forcing their opinions to the viewers. To ignore this we are harming the vibrant democracy which we are so proud of.

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  30. Anonymous: I hate doing this. But you asked for it.

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  31. Whatever his motives but someone had to say this publicly - cudos to Arun Shourie for doing that! Not that it will make any difference to Dons who now control BJP!

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  32. As a self professed secularist who finally grew up and discovered the reality, I am aghast at whats happening to the BJP. Selfish idiots like Jaswant have ruined the party. What was the need for him to declare his love for Jinnah, the scurrilous hypocrite who loved ham but has the blood of so many innocents on his hands? And that too now?

    The BJP suffers from an overabundance of cantankerous old fools who cannot motivate or even prosecute a campaign successfully.

    Even in 1999, Vajpayee backed down and did not allow the Army to take full revenge on the Paks. Parakram was but a limited success and spoilt the image of the BJP in the eyes of some.

    My point is, if you are the alternative to the Congress, you cant be the slightly macho version, but have to be true to your nationalist roots and be tough throughout.

    Throughout India, cannot BJP buy out even a few media hacks to support it the way the Congress has done, with IBN and NDTV et al?

    The BJP needs to introspect.

    Its been let down by the very people who claimed to be its well wishers or idiots like Muthalik who used the BJP bandwagon for personal glory, and ended up causing irreparable damage at election time.

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  33. Considering how the older generation damaged the BJP with their power lust and bloated egos, I suggest starting a new party which, by its constitution, forbids those older than 72 from Assembly/Lok Sabha tickets.

    Kalyan Singh, ML Khurana, BS Shekawat and now Jashwant Singh... we saw them all.

    The new and young party should initially be confined to those states where BJP has limited presence. If Jan Sangh could be disbanded, why not relegate the BJP from its current monopoly in Hindu politics to a mere partner in a wider Hindu coalition.

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  34. My Comments - BJP: How to Distract, Delude and Derail Yourself

    http://jitegabharat.com/blog.php?b=61

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  35. Arun NarendhranathMonday, August 31, 2009

    http://www.samaylive.com/news/jharkhand-bjp-opposes-using-church-for-grain-distribution/652698.html

    Not even a sign of protest by the secular media

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  36. Anonymous: Whoever you are, you are not welcome here.

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  37. Read my full post on Deconstructing Swapan's arguements in :

    http://indianwellwisher.wordpress.com/

    http://is.gd/2IuYQ

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  38. Boss..why r u so angry, all the time? Take a vacation! I suggest Bangkok! :)

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  39. >>Anonymous: Whoever you are, you are not welcome here.

    Ah, wonderful.

    So let me recap. You just got your hat handed to you at election time. The nation clearly cannot see you as the party at the center. In the meanwhile, you cant connect with or even portray a proper image of yourself in the country because the media has decided for better or worse, that you are fascists, meanies and what not and go overboard with hyperbole whenever the word Hindu is mentioned. And what have you guys done about that? Nothing.
    In the meanwhile, the party is busy tearing itself apart or even if it isnt, it cant seem to rid itself of that image...and Jaswant Singh, decides this is the right time to release an ode to Jinnah. Jinnah, the same man who was behind Direct Action Day, and whose legacy has been lakhs of deaths, molestations and what not, directed at Hindus.

    And when I bring this unbelievable lack of concern, this absolutely shambolic state of affairs up, you tell me "whoever I am, I am not welcome here".

    Dear Sir, if this is the alternate reality where you are living in, then wake UP. I am mature enough to let that comment slide, but the reality is you people CANNOT be so haphazard. You are losing to the Congress day in and night out, and handing them further ammunition.

    Each day, the Gandhi clan is announcing more sops to the vast rural population and bankrupting the exchequer (but who cares?) and you have to be 10X more effective to even be on the same page.

    Instead, all you have to offer is "I am not welcome here".

    What do you want me to tell you?

    That the skies are blue and the birds are singing and everyday hindus love the BJP so all will be well?

    Kindly wake up sir - STOP your party from self destructing. Please leave the " I am so secular" posturing apart and be what you claim to be, the party with a difference.

    Be clean (this means kicking the idiots like Muthalik who use the BJP/Hindutva name to gain publicity; this means no riots even when provoked, use satyagraha or non stop court cases and what not)
    Be effective (get Shri Modi to take up classes in governance in all BJP ruled states, create a central BJP university for effective leadership)
    Be tough (means effective policing and prevention of the kind of attacks one sees every now and then. stop depending on the UPA center)

    All in all, reach out to the middle class and the educated elite via websites, via groups, do these things.

    You have lost TWO battles but NOT the war.

    Dont let your sympathy for people whom you know and their being nice people whatever blind you to the fact that they cannot lead effectively.

    Every day the clock is ticking. At this rate, we will continue to be ruled by the corrupt cabal that is the CongressI unless YOU gents pull your socks up.

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