BJP: The Bagawat Jhanda Party
The Corpse Bride's tea party
The strange cordial relationship between the Congress and the BJP
PML-N; the Bully Party of Pakistan
Ever since its meteoric rise on the national political scene, post Ram Rath Yatra, the BJP - Bharatiya Janata Party has never been so down and out as it currently finds itself in.
And, as an independent political observer, I couldn't have been more sorry. From a party that reflected the ethos of traditions, discipline and Indianness to a party more reflective of infighting, inflated egos, rudderless policies and rootless wonders, BJP in its latest avtaar is fast turning into a Bagawat Jhanda Party (Banner of Revolt Party -BJP) where the last loyal have raised the banner of revolt.
The irony seems to be the fact that most mutineers seem to be right in their own way. There have been difference of opinions in the party post 2009 Lok Sabha polls is an open secret. And there has been a section which has been asking, both on in-house forums and externally, for accountability to be fixed on the poll debacle and to initiate steps to stem the rot.
However, rather than initiating corrective measures party leadership is goofing up from one issue to another. The first: party decides to show the door to former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Sindhia, asking her to quit as leader of opposition in the Rajasthan assembly. She refused to bite the bullet and sent a charged up contingent of loyal MLA's to Delhi.
This defiance to many was unheard off in BJP but then it happened much to the doing of its own leadership. If Raje was being shown the door to punish her for the poor show at the hustings in the state, why is the senior leadership being spared. Two rules for the same crime?
The second: unceremonious expulsion of party leader Jaswant Singh- no issues if the BJP thought Singh's musings were in contravention with the party ethos. But then is this the way you treat a party leader who has been with you for over 30 years, right through the thick n' thin? The tag of fascisim never stuck more to the BJP than on this issue, to me atleast! Calling him over the telephone to communicate his expulsion - so much for family like culture in the party?
Third: promoting of people like Arun Jaitley and whip lashing people like Shourie who can do more good to the party than the back room managers of the Jaitley ilk. probably what is lost in the cacophony and din of the Jinnah jinnie is the fact that in many states loyal party leaders and workers are being given a short shrift viz a viz powerful breed of managers.
Though not much talked about in the national media, the resignation of Kheeren Rejiju from Arunanchal Pradesh also hints at a larger malice in the party. BJP's most familiar face in the north-east, Rejiju day before quit the BJP for "not adequate attention to the north east". As an MP, he had impressed many in the Lok Sabha and his loyality to the party could be gauged by the fact that despite allurements from the Arunanchal chief minister Dorji Khandu to vote for the UPA government during last years vote of confidence, he toed the BJP line.
His loss in many ways is symptomatic of a larger disease plaguing the BJP, a party which many like me believed was slated to rule this country. Alas!
