For BJP to have a chance, NDA must go: Sandhya Jain | If the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to have a chance to win in the next General Election under the leadership of Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh, it must dissolve the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) without further ado. The party’s traditional allies like the Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena (one or both) do not need the NDA banner to flock to it, and most regional parties that joined hands with it to form the Government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee have long since departed. As the parting with the Bihar Chief Minister is inevitable, the BJP should seize the initiative to end the relationship. Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi has already stopped attending office and looking at files; lingering on is pointless. This is imperative given the alacrity with which LK Advani sprang to life as chairperson of the NDA and virtually offered the Janata Dal-United (JDU) a veto on Narendra Modi’s inevitable elevation as his party’s Prime Ministerial candidate. This confirms the suspicion that the ‘illness’ that kept him away from the Goa conclave was simply a mix of personal pique and frustrated ambition. It validates the writer’s contention that Advani deliberately retained the post of NDA chairperson while resigning from party positions, and will (mis)use this status to checkmate Modi, even if this means scuttling the BJP’s chances of returning to power at the Centre. The BJP does not need the NDA even if it has to enter into a coalition with other parties to form the Government at a later date. A coalition is a convenience for the Government formation when no party commands an independent majority; it is intrinsically transitional and dissolves after the Government ceases to exist, as the next election could return parties to Parliament in different strengths. Alternatively, its components can vary while the government is in power, as in the present UPA, where the DMK and Trinamool Congress have quit the coalition. More pertinently, a coalition has no constitutional existence. While political parties are Constitutional entities in that they are recognised by the Election Commission (which enables them to contest elections), and by Income Tax authorities, and are subject to various laws of the land, a coalition has no Constitutional or legal status. No political party can be penalised for quitting or joining a coalition, and anti-defection laws do not apply to such alliances. Hence, the BJP would do well to shed false emotions and some natural anxiety and exit the NDA which is impeding its growth, spread, and momentum. An immediate gain will be the automatic end of Advani’s position as NDA chairperson, and diminution of his ability to blackmail or sabotage the party and its popular leadership. The BJP has only to ask itself one question – can it go to the voter on a platform that promises that Narendra Modi will Not be its Prime Ministerial candidate? If the answer is negative, it must negate the influence of those manipulating its defeat at the hustings. In the weeks and months before elections are announced, BJP must remedy some serious errors of the past and build the party in States where it surrendered its own growth to regional allies or to the wrong policies of rootless but manipulative leaders, viz., Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, and others. Special emphasis could be laid on Telengana region, since the party is committed to a separate State there. Equally, BJP need not show nervousness by flirting with the idea of a federal front, but should concentrate on expanding its reach. The actual numbers of the next Parliamentary election will determine which party (or coalition) and which leader will lead the nation. There is no need to anticipate the future in a manner that retards one’s own growth. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has the correct attitude in this regard – concentrate on winning the maximum seats. Hence she has decided not to align with any party to contest the elections; alliances, if necessary, will come later. Finally, it is a safe bet that a non-Congress and a non-BJP coalition will be a non-starter in the present circumstances, when the nation is craving for strong and coherent leadership. That is the logic behind Modi’s elevation as Campaign Committee Chief; that is why BJP must assume that it will form the Government or be the kernel around which an alliance takes shape. Having said that, BJP must carefully deliberate over its agenda, so that it does not have to endorse ill-conceived statements by any leader. The VHP driven by Dr Pravin Togadia is already trying to queer the pitch for Narendra Modi by raising the demand for the Ram temple when the matter is pending in the Supreme Court. This can only alienate the judiciary and large sections of the citizenry. Yet Amit Shah, in-charge of the Uttar Pradesh election, has been reported as having said that the temple is “a poll issue” for the party. Surely, he needs to rephrase. If the temple is part of an unfulfilled civilisational agenda, then it should not be diminished by being reduced to a poll gimmick, but must be settled in a more mature way, outside the electoral arena. Knee jerk reactions owing to an absence of ideas can only do more damage than good to the party. More to the point, BJP’s track record in upholding its supposedly core issues is poor; it would be counter-productive to draw national attention to this fact.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:53:11 +0000
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