The BJP needs a jumpstart

The Presidential elections proved to be a one sided affair with the ruling coalition’s candidate Pratibha Patil winning the elections with a convincing majority. These elections already being called the most scandalous of all Presidential elections saw both the NDA and the UPA exchange charges on each others candidates and managed to sully the whole the process that was reduced to a mud slinging match. And in doing so, the NDA successfully managed to stick the word ‘tainted’ next to the words Pratibha Patil for all times to come even though the ruling UPA was adamant to ensure that even after embarrassing revelations of misconduct by Patil’s relatives surfaced, she continued her march to Raisina Hill. The UPA, though embarrassed by some of the speeches of Patil and the allegations against her family, could not replace their candidate for it would politically have proved to be the end of the UPA alliance. In such a scenario, they continued with Patil and played up the ‘first woman President’ card to attribute some respectability to a person who was facing pressures from all political denominations. Whether the decision to pursue Pratibha’s candidature will prove politically useful only time can tell, however, in the short term there is no discounting the fact that the elation of having a woman president was thoroughly run to the ground with the allegations that surfaced soon after she was endorsed by the UPA. Now with the elections over and a substantial, though predictable, defeat handed down, it is important for the opposition NDA to analyze where it stands on the political stage with barely two years to go before the general elections in 2009.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, L.K. Advani had appealed just days before the Presidential elections to vote according to their conscience and ensure that the ‘independent’ candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat wins the elections. Whether the audience that Advani was addressing took his advice seriously or not is debatable, but what did occur was cross voting in favor of Patil instead of Shekhawat as was originally predicted. This embarrassing reversal speaks volumes of the piquant situation the BJP finds itself in vis-à-vis its NDA allies. Some erstwhile factions of the NDA had already formed a rag tag third front which included ex-NDA constituents like the Asom Gana Parishad, the Telegu Desam Party, the AIADMK and the Indian National Lok Dal. This grouping christened the United National Progressive Alliance was to act as a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative that has long been envisioned by regional parties and the Left front. The UNPA was assumed to vote for the NDA for regional and national political compulsions, but it decided to break up on election day and decided to vote according to their own individual party’s interests. While the NDA could take heart from the fact that the AIADMK and the INLD did vote for Shekhawat, there is trouble for the coalition for some of its key allies including the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and some factions within the JD(U) in Bihar decided to vote according to their own personal interests. This lack of command pales in comparison with the UPA which managed to ensure that all factions voted for their candidate. This not only ensured Patil’s victory it has also reinvigorated the ruling alliance who confidently named their vice-presidential candidate barely twenty four hours after installing Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The presidential elections should not be seen in isolation and the NDA should avert calling the elections a mere formality to install the ruling dispensations candidate as the president.

There is no doubt that the degree of coalescence between political parties to form an alliance is directly related to the fact whether the dominant party is in power or not. This was amply proved by the united face that was presented by the NDA coalition under the BJP’s leadership. When voted out of power in 2004, the NDA virtually broke up and finger pointing proved to the norm – not only between parties but within parties as well. During the height of the Vajpayee premiership the Congress and other opposition parties were looked upon as has beens and their chances of winning the elections were considered laughable. By sewing up some strategic political alliances the Congress managed to come to power and today the UPA looks like a formidable foe in front of a tattered NDA. However, this perception can soon change if the BJP were to bring to the fore a manifesto of change. There are regional compulsions that can never be adequately addressed for all formations that constitute an alliance at the national level. However, there are policies and issues that can unite the erstwhile NDA constituents to form a united opposition to the UPA. For that to happen the BJP needs a jumpstart to the run up to the 2009 elections. An active and constructive role in the Parliament is the need of the hour. The BJP is perceived as the staller rather than the opposition in the Parliament today. Endless boycotts and walkouts must end and the party must take back the tag of the principle opposition ironically from the Left which props this government up at the moment. The concerted effort that the BJP showed for the Volcker and Office of Profit controversies is required to reinvigorate the party. The electoral victories of Punjab and Uttranchal were soon dimmed with the reverses that the party faced in the UP elections. It must ensure a romp in the Gujarat elections and the coming electoral cycle of 2008. The party has taken encouraging steps to that effect by appointing Arun Jaitely to oversee the Gujarat elections. Also with the Indo-US nuclear deal soon to be completed, the appointment of Yashwant Sinha as their foreign affairs cell chief is a step in the right direction. The BJP must take a cue from the Westminster model of parliamentary democracy and form a shadow cabinet (however contentious the idea may seem) whereby an individual is given a particular area to concentrate on and offer a critique of the government’s policies. By providing an alternative policy to the one proposed by the government, the electorate will know where the principal opposition party stands on various issues. Merely opposing for the sake of opposing is detrimental not only for the BJP but the entire NDA alike. This mindset of a sore loser must be replaced by that of being a responsible opposition and thereby influencing a large swathe of the electorate to gravitate towards it.

Most importantly though is the need for the famed Next Gen within the BJP to now come of age and decisively take command of the party. For that to happen the old guard in the party will need to step back. The Congress chief to her credit has made a real effort of promoting younger talents even though the Cabinet continues to have an average age well into the seventies. The BJP needs to come out of the ideological doldrums that it finds itself in. The blow hot blow cold approach to Hindutuva and the Ayodhya movement has only smacked of opportunism rather than any substantial policy initiatives on both issues. The BJP also seems to have been deeply wounded by the policies that it had taken during its regime. The India Shining campaign was a feel good campaign that has been blamed for the party’s defeat. The notion gained such currency that many in the party themselves starting believing that the reason they lost was an ad campaign. That is a simplistic argument to the more complex reasons for the loss – primarily the alliances it sought in the run up to the elections. But that aside the party needs to chart a new path on policies that it would doggedly pursue in the years to come. 2009 may seem a long time away but it is just barely long enough to change the perceptions that have crept into the minds of many voters. The time is here to go from the “has been” to the “will be” in 2009. Anyone listening?