The rise of Hindutva hardliners in the BJP, amidst the elevation of Narendra Modi, has opened up a Pandora's box. Or, should we say that the Saffron party has become a 'beehive' of political activity as the race to be anointed its prime ministerial candidate for 2014 remains unsettled. Team DC seeks out the sting in the tail
It was an unprecedented show, and unlike any saffron celebration, thus far, a crowd of over a lakh had gathered at Ahmedabad's Sardar Patel stadium, holding candles as they pledged out loud that they would work to bring the BJP — read Gujarat strongman Narendra Modi — to power in New Delhi. Standing by Modi was the BJP chief, Rajnath Singh sporting a traditional Gujarati turban, who declared Modi to be a “popular leader.” In turn, Modi speaking in Hindi, in a bid to reach out to an audience beyond Gujarat, said “I am not hungry for power, I just want to work for the people of India.”
As the bugles rang out, it was clear that Modi's march to Delhi had finally begun. And Modi-Rajnath, the new duo in the BJP, in the Vajpayee-Advani mould, was in place. Rajnath, the only central leader from the BJP who was invited to attend the Ahmedabad function, had less than a week ago, inducted Modi into the party’s highest decision making body — Modi is one of 12 new faces — with one eye clearly on galvanising the dormant Hindu vote that had turned away from the BJP, and the other on the development plank, with Modi the darling of corporates for being actively pro-business and pro-industry.
Speaking in New Delhi on Saturday, in a signal that Ayodhya was back in the BJP's vote calculus, BJP patriarch L.K. Advani raked up Ayodhya, asking his partymen “not to be apologetic for the Ayodhya movement,” and instead to “take pride in it.” Reinforcing the calculated and stark shift to the right was the induction of three others — Uma Bharati, Varun Gandhi, and Modi’s closest aide, Amit Shah. Uma’s entry may have been a move to see that she did not rain on Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s parade in her old hunting ground of Madhya Pradesh, set to go to the polls this coming October. But more importantly, she is part of a core Hindutva team in the BJP that is known for its Muslim-bashing, which has been programmed to fall back on the first game-changer —Hindutva and Ayodhya.
“The tried, tested and failed Uma Bharati entered the party as its vice-president,” a senior BJP leader pointed out. Varun, the rabble-rouser has been trotted out to attract the youth vote, even though he refused to campaign for the party the last time. Modi’s man, Amit Shah, who has no experience at the national level has also been made a general secretary.
But like Advani, Rajnath, Uma Bharati and Amit Shah, the BJP's new team is also playing to the Sangh gallery with Modi being the face which artfully blends the party's core ideology with a progressive outlook, while bringing in industry and big business. With the corporate honchos virtually “eating out of Modi's hands, BJP should not have problems as far as funding of elections are concerned,” a senior BJP functionary said.
Interestingly, Modi’s rise may have as much to do with his own larger than life ambition and persona as much as the ambitions of two other major leaders in the party. Many believe that the man working to tacitly project Mr Modi is the leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Mr Arun Jaitley. By backing Mr Modi for a bigger role in the party, the wily Mr Jaitley has virtually snuffed out the hopes of leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, Ms Sushma Swaraj, who had been taking strong but not obvious steps to project herself for the top slot.
To presume that all is within the BJP and that everyone is on board with Mr Singh's new team, would therefore be glossing over the rumblings within. Resentment is brewing among a section of functionaries over Mr Singh’s rehabilitation of discredited leaders like Dharmendra Pradhan, brought in as general secretary even though he messed up Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.
But while Mr Jaitley and Mr Singh back Mr Modi, sources disclosed that the biggest stumbling block to Modi’s rise comes from RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat and, of course, a section of senior leaders within the party. Mr Bhagwat, who apparently “wants to control the BJP is against Modi being made the face of the party,” sources said. It may be recalled that during the Gujarat elections, the RSS mouthpiece in the state, Sadhana had written three articles criticising Mr Modi. If the results were anything to go by, Modi lost heavily in north Gujarat — the tradtional belt of the RSS.
At the national level, two pro-Modi editors of the RSS organs, Organiser and Panchajanya have been replaced. Panchjanya editor Baldev Sharma and Organiser editor R Balashankar were replaced following their pro-Modi stance. In fact Balashankar was replaced by Vijay Kumar, a state secretary of RSS in Delhi. RSS veteran, M.G. Vaidya and his sons, reportedly control the RSS mouthpiece, and "are known for their anti-Modi stance," a BJP youth leader claimed. The most cryptic of answers came from a senior party leader when asked about Modi : “There may have been a clamour for Modi. The party workers might be mounting pressure on the BJP leadership to project Modi. But mind you, the last word on Modi has not been said as yet.”
It’s learnt that the RSS chief continues to seethe over the BJP’s unanimous move to “boot out” former party chief, Mr Nitin Gadkari. Mr Gadkari, sources said was Mr Bhagwat’s man. “And if Gadkari was in power, the RSS would have successfully blocked the advent of Modi. In fact, there was a speculation in the Gadkari camp that in a post-poll scenario, he could well emerge as the consensus candidate for the prime ministerial candidate, if NDA came to power,” sources said. “Therefore the RSS is not going to sit quietly and watch Modi run the show.
“Though Rajnath Singh is playing to the Modi gallery, it's certain that he will not project Modi as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate,” the senior leader said. “Don't take Rajnath Singh at face value. He is one of the shrewdest saffron politicians there is. Look at him, he is back at the top even after losing the last general elections,” the leader said.
Moreover, neither Mr Advani nor Ms Swaraj are too pleased with the rise of Modi. Both Mr Advani and Ms Swaraj, despite taking a back seat at this juncture, have not “given up their ambition to be PM,” sources said. Apart from differences within the BJP and the Sangh, Modi’s elevation would not only polarise the Muslims in Congress' favour, but would break up the NDA, with Nitish Kumar's JD(U) very likely to keep its distance. “Under no circumstances will the JD(U) support Mr Modi,” a BJP leader said.
In the event of an impasse over Modi, if the NDA comes to power, the man who will most likely become the coalition’s acceptable face is Arun Jaitley. “And Jaitley knows it,” a BJP leader said. The rise of Mr Modi could find parties like Trinamul Congress and DMK going back to the UPA. The Trinamul supremo, Ms Mamata Banerjee, who is finding the going tough in West Bengal would be forced to join hands with the Congress in her bid to block the Left Front, which is known for its anti-Modi stance.
Moreover, Uttar Pradesh has always been the “gateway” to New Delhi. A large section of BJP leaders are “uncertain” about Modi’s so-called charisma in the land of Mayawati and Mulayam. Mr Rajnath Singh intends to unleash Mr Varun Gandhi to consolidate the upper caste and Hindtva vote bank in UP. Mr Modi wants to be able to rise above caste politics, particularly in UP, “which could be a difficult proposition,” a BJP leader from Lucknow said.
“Muslims constitute at least 20 per cent of the vote bank in UP. If Mr Modi is projected, the Muslims would shift towards Mulayam’s ally, the Congress, to block the BJP,” he said. In the case of a hung Parliament and if the move to constitute a Third Front fails, most regional parties would prefer to remain with a secular outfit, he added.
But while the BJP is aggressively trying to project Mr Modi, the Congress scion, Mr Rahul Gandhi is quietly entering the race. On April 4 the Congress vice-president while addressing India Inc at the annual general meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) put across his vision. “We need your help. It is critical that the business environment for the creation of infrastructure is conducive. Economic vision is more than just money, embracing the excluded is necessary for wealth creation,” Mr Gandhi said. The Congress vice-president and the party's youth icon went on to add:“How can you talk of Centre-State relationship when only MPs and MLAs are defining the Vidhan Sabhas? We need to build a new architecture. Currently, the grassroots is totally disconnected from the political system. One person can't solve problems of a billion people, give power to billion people, all work will be done.” Of course he echoed the usual that he was “not interested in PM’s job” and to “work for the country”, but the fact remains, the CII address was a clear signal that he has finally stepped into the ring. And from now on it would be him versus Modi.
And Mr Gandhi showed he, too, could play the majority card if needed, invoking the Bhagavad Gita, the sacred Hindu text, saying compassion was key to peace and development. Or, as some believe, this is a Jaitley-like ploy in the Congress to blindside anyone else who wants to take a shy at being prime minister.
‘BJP is not anti-minorities’
BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi tells Yojna Gusai that the BJP believes in taking everyone along and the perception of it being anti-minorities is a creation of rival parties.
Rajnath Singh’s new team gives the impression that the BJP is going back to its Hindutva agenda.
Well, Hindutva means nationalism and a commitment to development and national security. BJP has always been committed to the development of the country and its people and the new team will only carry forward the task.
Narendra Modi, Uma Bharti, Varun Gandhi, all in the core team, are considered hardliners. Is that a message to the BJP’s core constituency ahead of the elections?
It’s not some symbolic or ceremonial team, but an active and effective one. The only message that this team has sent out is that it is a perfect team.
There is also a growing perception in your party that these hardliners, all seen to be anti-minorities, will only hurt the BJP’s poll prospects.
First of all, this anti-minority tag is a creation of parties opposed to ours, who themselves indulge in blatant minority appeasement. BJP’s motto is good governance and development for all, and BJP-ruled states are examples of this.
So the party is confident it can come back to power at the Centre with this team?
The current situation is that the people of this country are fed up of the Congress-led UPA. People want change, and BJP is the alternative.
