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India: Soul-searching at the
top
By Sultan Shahin
NEW
DELHI - According to Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani will
lead India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the
2004 general elections. According to Advani, it will be
Vajpayee.
With such confusing signals coming
from the two titans, it's little surprise that the party
been rocked in the past fortnight by a controversy that
refuses to die down. The battle between the Vajpayee and
Advani camps started with BJP president Venkaiah Naidu,
considered an Advani protege, saying that the next
elections will be fought under the joint leadership of
Vikas Purush (Development Man) Vajpayee and
Lauh Purush (Iron Man) Advani.
As
77-year-old Vajpayee is considered the undisputed leader
of the party, this understandably led to a controversy.
It was also considered in bad taste, as Vajpayee was at
the time on a three-nation foreign tour and this
amounted to undermining his position while abroad.
Advani, no stranger to nuances of politics, initially
kept quiet. He did not contradict Naidu's two-mascot
trial balloon. But later he had to issue clarifications
on the issue from Washington during his US tour.
This gave the BJP's self-styled Vigyan
Purush (Science Man - though most people consider
him the Superstition Man, as this former professor of
physics has introduced astrology and other esoteric
subjects to the university curriculum) Human Resource
Development Minister and former party president Murli
Manohar Joshi the opportunity to intervene on behalf of
the premier. He said that Naidu did not have the party's
endorsement when the he came up with his Vikas
Purush/Lauh Purush formulation. He said that only
the party's parliamentary board or the national
executive could make such a decision.
Joshi told
a private television channel, "I don't think the
executive committee of the party or policy making body
of the party has ever decided that he [Vajpayee] is
Vikas Purush. I think it's the personal
perception of Naidu about Vajpayee." Making it clear
that he did not agree with this perception, Joshi
further said, "Vajpayee is not only Vikas Purush,
he is our leader ... he represents the sum total
personality of BJP and also of NDA [National Democratic
Alliance - the 25-party coalition he heads]. So to limit
him to a small segment of political and economic
development was never discussed in the party."
But this is contradicted by BJP-watchers. They
say that Joshi is merely venting his frustration as
Advani had not allowed him to remain party president for
the second term. Actually, it was at the behest of state
BJP presidents who met in Hyderabad recently that the
concept of branding Advani as Lauh Purush for the
elections was adopted. It was felt by the state leaders
that since campaign posters have both Vajpayee and
Advani, the deputy PM, too, should be projected in
slogans.
It was after the Hyderabad meeting that
Naidu announced the party would this time project both
Vajpayee, the Vikas Purush, and Advani, the
Lauh Purush. The party's electoral message has
hitherto revolved around the universal appeal of
Vajpayee and his acceptability to other so-called
secular parties who are part of the ruling coalition.
Vajpayee is a man of few words. Ensconced
securely at the top, he rarely reacts to speculations
about his leadership role. But this attack had come from
the very top of the party, and after a series of moves
that could only be considered as an attempt to cut him
down to size. Only a little earlier he had not been
allowed to shuffle his cabinet ministers the way he
wanted. He responded in his characteristic fashion, with
what was described by India's leading newspaper, The
Times of India, as "a googly" (curved ball).
Just back from his foreign tour, Vajpayee gave a
new twist to the raging speculation on leadership.
Wrapping up his speech at a felicitation program for his
successful visit of Germany, Russia and Switzerland, he
said with obvious irony, "The party is neither retired
nor tired and it is filled with so much confidence that
Advani will lead the party to victory."
This
stunned the audience. Those who shared the dais -
Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Defense
Minister George Fernandes - didn't know what had hit
them. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Naidu came
back at the podium even before Vajpayee could return to
his seat. "Let us clarify this once again," he said,
"Atalji [Vajpayee] will lead us in the next elections
and he will be our prime minister again."
His
statement came on a day when BJP leaders had already
decided to send a clear message that "only the Vajpayee
magic works" and that he was the man who would lead the
party's campaign as the prime ministerial candidate.
Vajpayee's googly, though, has stumped the
party. For the time being all speculation has ceased.
Vajpayee is the only leader of the party, it is being
reiterated. But the controversy will surely be revived
again, as it has been kept alive throughout the past
five years of BJP rule.
In order to understand
the scenario and its implications for Indian politics in
the days to come, one needs a little perspective. The
BJP is a Hindu fundamentalist party that was in its
earlier incarnation called the Bhartiya Jana Sangh.
Vajpayee helped found the original party almost half a
century ago, but he has been at odds with it since early
1980s, while also remaining its unchallenged leader.
This contradiction has its genesis in the
experiences of the mid-1970s. Congress prime minister
Indira Gandhi declared an emergency (a sort of martial
rule) in 1975, suspending all democratic freedoms,
including freedom of expression and the right to life,
to get around a court ruling depriving her of membership
of parliament on account of electoral misconduct. She
sent to jail most opposition leaders and many political
activists, including some dissidents from her own party.
They were let out in 1977 for what was clearly
going to be a sham election to satisfy world opinion,
while the emergency continued. Out of jail, opposition
leaders realized that they had just two options - unite,
forgetting ideological positions to win the elections,
or go back to jail. They chose the first option. And
much to Indira Gandhi's consternation and surprise, they
united overnight, helped also by the shared agony of a
two-year jail stint. All parties merged their identities
into a secular, socialist, democratic Janata Party.
The Janata party won the elections and a
Congress faction leader, Morarji Desai, became prime
minister, with Vajpayee taking the foreign affairs
portfolio and Advani became information minister.
Though a life-long member of the Rashtriya
Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the fountainhead of Hindu
fundamentalism, Vajpayee found his vision broadened. He
spent most of his time traveling the world and learning
the virtues of pluralism and secularism. He became the
first Indian leader to open up to Pakistan, relax visa
restrictions and so on. This made him the only Hindu
fundamentalist leader popular among Muslims, who
benefited the most from the relaxation in travel
restrictions to Pakistan. He has regularly obtained
Muslim votes since - the only Hindu fundamentalist
leader to do so. Branded as a dove, despite his hardline
Hindutva (the philosophy of Hindu domination of the
sub-continent) background, he became acceptable to the
secular parties as well.
But this also made him
suspect in the eyes of his fanatical Hindu supporters.
When Vajpayee founded the BJP after separating from the
Janata Party after Mrs Gandhi came back to power in
1980, he described the party plank as Gandhian
socialism. But both Gandhi and socialism are anathema to
Hindutva. Indeed, Mahatma Gandhi had been killed by a
Hindu fundamentalist, Nathu Ram Godse, who remains a
Hindutva icon to this day, after Gandhi proposed
peaceful relations with Pakistan.
The BJP didn't
have any choice. Vajpayee was irreplaceable. No one had
the gift of gab with which to enchant the masses. He was
the only orator in the party. Advani could not even win
his own elections and had to be brought to parliament
through the backdoor of the Upper House, where members
are nominated. The BJP and its mentor RSS had to even
sideline more committed Hindutva leaders like Balraj
Madhok when they started opposing Vajpayee.
Vajpayee continued as the unchallenged leader
until 1989. But then things changed. The then prime
minister, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, offered reservation
in jobs and education to backward Hindu castes, making
upper caste youths afraid of losing their jobs. The
latter started a wave of self-immolation as a pressure
tactic to force the government to change its stand that
had obviously become very popular among backward Hindus.
The specter of intra-Hindu civil war loomed. Alarmed,
Advani embarked on a symbolic "chariot" ride, leading
his Hindutva cadres to Ayodhya town in Uttar Pradesh
state to demolish a medieval mosque, thus changing the
focus from an intra-Hindu caste war to a Hindu-Muslim
communal clash.
The Babri mosque demolition
movement became immensely popular, culminating in the
demolition of the targeted mosque in 1992 on the grounds
that it was built on the site of a Hindu temple
celebrating the birth place of Lord Rama. The saga
catapulted Advani into a popular leadership position.
Now he could not only win his own election, but bring
his party close to power. The moderate Vajpayee was sent
to the sidelines.
But try as he might, Advani
could not bring his party to power. The BJP needed
allies who had secular pretensions. They would not
accept as their leader the person who had become in
popular perception the "demolition man". This is what
made Vajpayee relevant again. Advani, the strongman of
the party now, himself announced that Vajpayee would
lead the government.
What is the situation after
five years of power? Vajpayee has regained popularity
among the masses. He is once again the man who can bring
in votes. The Babri mosque could be demolished only
once. Hindutva attempts to revive the spirit by talking
about building a magnificent Ram temple on the Babri
site has not done the trick. Massacres of Muslims in
BJP-ruled Gujarat state did help the party retain power
in the state and it was said that the Gujarat formula
will be repeated throughout the country, thus helping
the party retain power in the country.
But the
Gujarat formula involves large-scale genocide and cannot
be practiced without the help of the police, who are
controlled by the state governments. The last time a
party, Congress, used this formula, it was able to
organize the genocide of Sikhs in 80 cities and towns
across the country. But the BJP rules in just two
states, thus making the formula impracticable.
Advani has not been able to come up with any new
agenda. The BJP president may describe him as the iron
man, but his stewardship of the Home Ministry, a
portfolio he holds in addition to the vice premiership,
has brought no security to the nation. If anything,
things have got worse. He is thus viewed as a weak
leader, a leader who did not fulfill his promise. In all
polls, Vajpayee leads Advani by a wide margin.
An emerging Vajpayee agenda - peace with
Pakistan, negotiated settlement of the Babri mosque
dispute which still festers, promise of development and
rule of law at home - may conceivably bring the BJP back
to power.
It is no coincidence that soon after
bowling the googly at his own party, he has thrown
another spanner in its works. In a significant statement
that seeks to separate the Ayodhya issue from politics,
Vajpayee said on Sunday that the matter can be resolved
"only when it is freed from politics and when political
parties stop looking at it from the point of view of who
gains and who loses".
Stressing that mutual
faith between religious communities was central to the
task of finding a solution, Vajpayee said, "It is
necessary that the representatives of Hindus and Muslims
begin to talk to each other to find an amicable and
mutually acceptable solution. It seems difficult that
such fruitful talks can take place between political
parties and their leaders."
While this line may
be popular among peace-loving citizens of all
communities who just want to get on with their lives,
this is clearly not going to be acceptable to the BJP's
core constituency of hardline Hindutva fanatics who
thrive on dividing the country along communal lines.
Advani himself may understand the compulsions of
politics and thus may be sincere in his protestations
that he wants Vajpayee to lead the campaign, but it is
doubtful that the Frankenstein's monsters that he has
helped create in the shape of organizations like the VHP
(Vishwa Hindu Parishad or World Hindu Forum) or the
Bjrang Dal (the party of monkey-god Hanuman) will allow
him to go along with Vajpayee's secular agenda as well.
On his part, Vajpayee is no longer willing to
merely lend his voice to be exploited by the party. He
wants to win and win on his agenda. He has left
socialism behind, but he wants to hold on to Gandhi and
his vision of a secular India.
It is not
difficult to see why Vajpayee has made a solemn
announcement that if he fails to normalize relations
with Pakistan and resolve the Kashmir dispute, he will
retire from politics. He obviously seems to think that
it is possible to win elections only on the peace and
prosperity agenda he is presenting. If he fails in his
venture of bringing peace at home and along the
country's borders, either because he couldn't accomplish
the tasks in hand or because his fundamentalist family
won't let him, there won't be a government to run, and
he is apparently not interested in leading the
opposition. He would willingly leave that task to
Advani.
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co,
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