PM Must Adopt Atal's Magnanimity ... Power & Politics/ The Sunday Standard/ November 29, 2015

PM Must Adopt Atal's Magnanimity and Indira's Firmness to Sustain his Leadership

With power comes great responsibility. Just in time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has woken up to the implications of being the most powerful man in the country and realised he cannot afford to leave governance to others. The buck stops at his desk. Last week, the standoffish saffron sultan used the dialogue device to power parliamentary politics, which had been derailed in the past few sessions. For the first time in 18 months, he invited his predecessor Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi for a chai pe charcha at 7 Race Course Road. Ostensibly, the 40-minute meeting appeared to be just an official parley between the head of state and the principal Opposition party to clear the GST logjam. They have been at loggerheads since Modi became Prime Minister. But their body language after the meeting signalled that Modi had made the first move to dispel the impression that he had any personal animosity towards the Congress leadership. He also indicated that he was willing to give the party the importance it deserves and take its concerns into consideration. Deftly, the PM had projected the fact that in a democracy, governance is based on consensus and not on majority muscle, even before the meeting happened. For the first time, Modi became an active participant in Lutyens’ Delhi politics, which he had so far vowed to shun. He had confined himself to diplomacy and pushing innovative schemes to earn him the laurels of being India’s most successful Prime Minister.

When he understood that his credibility as ‘the leader who delivers’ was being pummelled in India and abroad, he decided to abandon his majestic aloofness to mingle with those whom he ideologically abhorred the most. Myriad Modi promoters and supporters were dismayed that the government couldn’t get important legislations like the GST and Land Bill approved by Parliament. Modi has pushed his colleagues to open up the economy, so that investors look and feel visibly at ease in doing business in India. During the past few months, the NDA government has liberalised rules for foreign investment in important sectors like real estate, defence, banking, e-commerce, media and retail. Modi ignored protests from some sections of the Sangh Parivar. Despite many structural and growth-oriented reforms, his government was seen as non-performing amateur on the economic front. Additionally, its image got besmirched by irresponsible statements from some fringe elements in the Sangh Parivar. To add to this dismal dilemma, the award-wapsi campaign by prominent Leftist and secularist intellectuals fuelled negative publicity both at home and overseas. Finally, a humiliating defeat in Bihar dented Modi’s image of an invincible vote warrior, though it was the failure of state leaders to connect with the local electorate that had more to do with the debacle.

That didn’t deter his detractors to gleefully connect his parliamentary softening with BJP’s Bihar debacle. True, it is not a coincidence that he decided to engage with the Opposition only after the Bihar elections were over. According to PMO insiders, he was being given the impression that many interlocutors, including senior ministers, were in constant touch with all parliamentary stakeholders to ensure the smooth passage of crucial bills such as GST. The truth is, none of the intermediaries dealing with the Congress had ever discussed the possibility of a powwow between the Congress leadership and Prime Minister to resolve existing conflicts. Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi made it publicly clear that no BJP minister ever discussed GST or any other pending legislative issues with them. A large section of the party’s top guns and some senior ministers are opposed to a dialogue with the Congress. They want punitive action taken against Congress leaders—including sitting and former chief ministers—and hammer through cases in various courts. Various investigative agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and CBI have been instructed to dig up dirt on every Congress politician who matters. Undoubtedly, many of them were involved in financial irregularities when in power, but their party leadership is splenetic over the speed with which the government is pursuing the cases. Additionally, some prominent ministers were ranting against Congress leaders at a time when the PMO was initiating an inter-party dialogue.

Modi’s personal initiative, however, is going to change the way Delhi politics is being managed. Modi is a networker par excellence. He was one of the most active BJP general secretaries during the mid 1990s. He enjoyed immense personal rapport with leaders across the political spectrum. But he became a political pariah after the Gujarat riots. Most national leaders, corporate honchos and Bollywood stars became his cacophonous critics. He was spurned by the goliaths of the social and political hierarchy. For 12 years, he had to confine himself to Gujarat. As a result, his confidence and capacity to deal with formidable opponents suffered much. Then he surprised all by rising like a sphinx during the Lok Sabha elections and captained a record-breaking electoral victory for the BJP. He was in no mood for a political dialogue with his detractors. Ever since he became the Prime Minister, Modi had refrained from entertaining any of the Opposition leaders on a personal level, meeting them only at all-party meetings. He did conceive NITI Aayog, where he could interact with chief ministers. But it wasn’t Chanakyaesque enough to give him the sly, silky skills needed to negotiate New Delhi’s viciously tortuous political labyrinth. His experience of the past few months in the capital has made him realise that he can’t confine himself to the Zen of just being the Prime Minister, leaving political punditry to others. Modi’s conclave with Congress leaders last week is just the beginning of a series of encounters, which he is planning with other political protagonists too. So far, he has stuck to meeting foreign dignitaries, celebrities from India and abroad as well as his trusted aides. His success as the supreme national leader will depend on his ability to adopt the mellow magnanimity of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the unalloyed firmness of Indira Gandhi.

prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me  on Twitter @PrabhuChawla

National Interest will be the Biggest Casualty ...... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard/ November 22, 2015

National Interest Will be the Biggest Casualty in the Politics of Personality Clashes

Positive politics is fuelled by an obsession for change, while a political obsession is often fuelled by a confrontation between relentless rivals. Often, it strays into the treacherous territory of vicious verbosity banishing all logical debate and dialogue, thus placing democratic institutions in danger of moral destitution. Last week, the Congress and BJP were locked in a Waterloo of Words, the worst-ever since the NDA government assumed power. Usually political parties settle down to the serious business of governance and legislation as soon as an election gets over. But the two mainstream parties, which have been engaged in a fusillade of fulminations since the Bihar polls, were expected to engage each other in resolving many legislative issues pending in Parliament. Personal attacks on personalities rather than on ideologies, however, are likely to paralyse the process of governance. The Bihar polls were fought around the calculus of personality power. All contesting parties spewed the worst invectives against their opponents. The political warfare was confined to two central personalities—PM Narendra Modi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. It was evident that both the parties expect that all future battles would be fought around personas, not policies. India’s new politics now revolves around crafting strategies, which aim at building, promoting, demolishing and tarring leaders. Ideology is dead. Individuals with high-calorie egos wrote its obit. The breaking down of dialogue is contaminating democracy with the warring egos of leaders, an ominous sign for the people who have elected them in the hope of a better India.

The BJP set the tone of the tension-torn talkathon with its firebrand leader Subramanian Swamy firing the first salvo at Rahul, alleging he floated private companies in the UK, declaring himself as a British citizen. The Congress refuted this vociferously. (Previously, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar had announced that Robert Vadra would be flung in jail within six months.) The BJP leadership joined the anti-Rahul tirade and demanded an explanation. The Congress, emboldened by its Bihar success, retaliated with abounding aggression. Young Mr G led the counter-attack. Instead of the BJP, it was the PM he had in his cross hairs. Rahul went ballistic, “I want to say this Modiji, it’s your government, you have all the agencies. Set them after me. Show your 56-inch chest. Launch an investigation against me and if you find anything in six months, put me in jail. But stop using your lackeys to throw dirt at me or my family.” He also added, “Our Prime Minister doesn’t take interest in Parliament. He and his government don’t take interest in the questions raised by the Opposition.” Taking the cue from Rahul, other Congress loyalists opened fire on Modi. Mani Shankar Aiyar, a Gandhi loyalist, showed his venomous side in the Pak media. According to TV reports, he said, “First, it is required to remove Modi, otherwise talks will not move forward. We’ll have to wait for four years. These people are very optimistic about Modi, they think that talks will move forward with Modi’s presence, but I don’t think so.”

The Congress obsession with Modi can be well understood because he has broken its political monopoly by singlehandedly getting the BJP a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha. He is perceived as the most popular and effective PM since Indira Gandhi. The Congress fear is that as long as Modi’s credibility and acceptability remains intact, it doesn’t stand any chance of regaining power at the Centre. As a well thought-out strategy, Mr G has always kept Mr M in his firing line. To begin with, he termed the government a suit-boot ki sarkar. Later on, he made fun of the PM’s alleged proximity to corporate czars. Rahul has made it clear to his party leaders that the Congress shouldn’t mind sacrificing its interests in a couple of states if it means damaging Modi’s image. It entered into an alliance in Bihar only to ensure that the PM’s image as an invincible leader was damaged. According to party insiders, Rahul, Nitish and Lalu ensured the Battle for Bihar was converted into a fight between Modi and the rest. The Congress has drawn up a detailed plan to track Modi’s performance as PM and his dealings with various state governments. Rahul’s own mandate is to hold Modi responsible for all the failures of the government and the BJP. The Congress will not hesitate to make more personal attacks on the PM. Its high command is convinced that with the economy performing poorly, Modi’s image as a Vikas Purush will be eroded, making it easy for them to diminish him further. Moreover, the party and its promoters have decided to focus the limelight on Rahul, since they feel he is the only leader with pan-Indian recognition. Though his organisational skills and ideological moorings are yet to be established, the Congress continues to believe only Rahul can take on Modi effectively because age is on his side.

Ironically, if the Congress is determined to swim or sink with Rahul, the BJP has also decided to focus on Mr G. Soon, India will witness a direct fight between the BJP and Congress in more than half of the coming state polls. Hence, the ruling NDA would like to minimise the Rahul impact. During the next 12 months, elections will be held in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, etc. The BJP is unlikely to perform well in any of them. A humiliating defeat would adversely affect the image of the BJP and PM. The BJP’s strategy would be to prevent Rahul or the Congress from becoming the leading player in forging an anti-BJP alliance. Since Mr G has almost taken charge of the Congress party, the BJP would like to rein him in before he blossoms into a nationally acceptable leader. Some BJP leaders have already been assigned to dig as much as dirt as possible on him.

The major victim of the burgeoning bitterness between the two major parties is going to be the forthcoming Parliament session. The government was expected to extend an olive branch to the Congress to push through its agenda for good governance. It has to revive the feel-good environment in the country so that domestic production and employment can pick up. A constructive cooperation between the ruling party and the Opposition could also facilitate implementation of some of the innovative schemes launched by the PM. Unfortunately, negative elements in both the parties are determined to keep personal feuds alive to prevent losing their relevance and utility in their outfits. In the clash of personalities, it is the national interest, which will be the biggest casualty.

prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla

Jaitley's next Budget should be with a difference..Power & Politics/The Sunday Standard/July 13, 2014

Jaitley's Next Budget Should be with a Difference, in Taste, Tone and Tenor

Union Budget 2014 is just like a three-star Michelin course. The chatterati waits for it to be arranged and displayed in the proper ambience. Corporates expect it to be served in fine China tableware. And the media, opinion-makers and political leaders enjoy its flavours according to nature of their palates. Whether it serves its intended purpose or not, the budget has become the talk of the town. All TV channels paraded exclusive panels of experts, spent lavishly on sending reporters out to get voices that mostly supported the budget, with a few contrarians thrown in for the sake of balance. Like all food, the freshness lasted for a few hours, after which people looked for a different cuisine to savour. Since 1947, 25 finance ministers have read out 86 budgets, with C D Deshmukh making the shortest speech and Arun Jaitley breaking the record—with a short break—by speaking for 130 minutes. Barring the Congress talkathletes and the usual BJP and RSS baiters, few found fault with his logic or schemes. Jaitley has something for everybody. The budget proposals, however, resemble the menu of a roadside dhaba, which serves everything from Punjabi-ised pasta, desi pizza, Indian chow mein to even lamb chops for snooty Anglophiles.

For Jaitley, crafting the budget was a class and caste dilemma. His heart was with market reforms, which benefit more the types whose habitat is Lutyen’s Delhi, South Mumbai, upmarket Chennai as well as those who direct the markets in Shanghai and New York. But he was constrained to expound on fiscal deficits, subsidies and the interest regime, which only a few sitting in boardrooms would understand. His original constituency comprises middle class traders, unorganised labour, Swadeshi propagandists and lower middle class urban voters. It wasn’t surprising, however, that he let his heart down and used his mind instead to present a please-all budget, hailed not just by those who gained but also by those who gained even marginally. He didn’t get plaudits for presenting a bold, a dream or a super budget, but Modinomics, which brought the party to power and made him the finance minister, was not lost in translation.

Jaitley’s budget might probably join the myriad forgotten documents in the dusty archives of the finance ministry. But the question remains whether it resolves the fundamental problems ailing the economy for the past 65 years? The finance minister took a bold step by opening up defence and insurance sectors to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). He magnanimously announced 20-odd schemes of `100 crore each. He reiterated Prime Minister Modi’s resolve to launch a bullet train and create IITs, IIMs and AIIMS in almost every state. He also humoured the Sangh Parivar by providing liberal outlays for cleaning and developing the Ganga and pilgrimage tourism. But can just opening elitist educational institutions and inviting FDI in remunerative sectors lift India from the bottom ranks on various social indicators? Undoubtedly, the budget is not an instrument to abracadabra any magical mission to make India a prosperous and healthy nation. Jaitley has been able to provide something good out of the worst situation he has inherited from the UPA.  But providing a paltry `500 crore as a palliative for a permanent plague like inflation appears to be a non-starter.

In a nation where every third person is living below the poverty line, fiscal and monetary policies should aim at providing each wholesome food and shelter. In India, real disposable income has just grown by 2.8 per cent over 2004-05. More than half of the country’s 1.2 billion people have no toilets in their homes. Surprisingly, they have mobile phones. In the age of modernisation, a single Indian consumes just 52 kg of steel a year as against the global average of 203 kg per person. Even after 65 years of Independence, the average citizen gets only 734 kWh of power (500 units a month) vis-à-vis the worldwide average of 2,782 kWh. If that isn’t enough, only half a bed is available per 1,000 Indians in government hospitals. Poor Bharat is afflicted with all categories of poverty, which vary from water poverty, healthcare poverty, education poverty, housing poverty, sanitation poverty and even transportation poverty in the form of a pathetic road network.

Amazingly, India still remains a rich country inhabited by the poor. From 1991, when extraneous pressures forced it to take a right turn from a mixed economy to a World Bank-imposed reform mechanism, only the rich have benefitted from budgetary exercises. India is perhaps the only developing country where 64 per cent of the GDP comes from the services sector, which provides hardly any facilities to the poor but definitely offers luxurious services to the rich. Both manufacturing and agriculture, which contributed over 70 per cent of the GDP in the ’80s, now account for less than 40 per cent. Over 50 per cent of the population still depends on agriculture for livelihood, but have been left out of the growth miracle. Yet, our fiscal policies are aimed at attracting FDI only in services. Will FDI in

defence and insurance solve India’s unemployment and poverty problems? Foreign investors have been investing in captive markets or high yield sectors. For example, the percentage of FDI in trade, hotels and restaurant business has grown from 14 per cent in 2001 to 24 per cent in 2014. Foreign funds (belonging to invisible Indians as some suspect) investment in financing, insurance, real estate and business services rose from 14 per cent to almost 18 per cent during the past 12 years. Evidently, FDI sponsors have taken more money out of India through tax-free dividends and sale of their shares than they have actually invested. They haven’t created any tangible assets in India. Instead, they provided plum jobs with stratospheric salaries to those who influence policymakers. Modi is under no obligation to give more opportunities to those whose sole aim is to earn more miles and munificence from their foreign promoters.

Sadly, successive finance ministers from Manmohan Singh onwards have been guided more by endorsements from markets than from masses. The colour of the budget and its prose, along with the sartorial elan of the finance minister, get more premium and publicity than its content. For Modi and Jaitley, the time will arrive soon—in eight months—to present the next budget with a difference, in taste, tone and tenor.

prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla

BJP-Divided and Ruled Out / The Sunday Standard/July 03,2011

BJP
Divided and ruled out

When the BJP’s holy hope in Uttar Pradesh, Uma Bharati, was welcomed back on stage formally by party President Nitin Gadkari in Delhi on June 7— after a vanvaas of 16 years—there were no fireworks.

It was left to Gadkari, architect of her return, to greet the sanyasin with sweets. Bharati was specifically brought back into the fold to take on the redoubtable Mayawati who seems invincible mainly because the BSP has no credible opposition. For the BJP, which is preparing its electoral strategy for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections will be a harbinger of fate.

At last month’s party executive meet held in Lucknow, Kalraj Mishra was appointed chairman of the Campaign Committee after much haggling between warring groups. Rajnath Singh, who has a strong Thakur mass base, was ignored completely—at one point he walked on to the stage uninvited, to make a sardonic point. Bharati inherits a legacy of communications failure between state leaders supported by nepotic national chieftains; the BJP has no strategy in Uttar Pradesh to build a caste phalanx of Rajputs, Brahmins, backward castes and Dalits to counter the upper caste-dominated Congress, the Dalit-led BSP and the Muslim- Yadav combination of the Samajwadi Party. The sanyasin’s skills at political Sudoku will be tested sorely in the state; she has to balance the numbers between Delhi and Lucknow when it comes to possible candidates. The BJP’s cadres favour Rajnath, Mishra, Bharati and Swami Chinmayanand. Varun Gandhi is in great demand among the party’s youth; a fact that has nettled sections of the central leadership. So much for a winning strategy! There are other state elections around the bend—Gujarat, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa. War cries are heard within the BJP; but unfortunately, it is the sound of fury of saffron overlords battling each other.

Fighting to lose it all

The central leadership on the other hand seems busy consuming large quantities of the party symbol, the lotus. In history, leaders change in every institution and new groups are born. Institutions that succeed do not cast earlier mentors into political winter, especially in a summer of discontent— mainly because experience guides enthusiasm. Mysteriously, the BJP headquarters has discarded the authors of the party’s popular, ideological and strategic prominence— Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh and Arun Shourie. Once a party of titans, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee who was never afraid to speak his mind and encouraged a spirit of civilised dissent within the party, these senior leaders have been sidelined because they refuse to be part of any group and possess independent minds. Gadkari’s biggest challenge is how to manage the cabals within. In Delhi, the duel between the two Opposition Leaders in Parliament—Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj—continue to cause discomfort in the party rank and file. Political hostilities in Maharashtra went national when the BJP’s Deputy Leader of the Opposition Gopinath Munde rebelled against party chief Gadkari—an old Maharashtra hand—only to arrive at an uneasy truce.

The stateside mess

In the states, the din of conflict gets louder as the shadow war within the party becomes kamikaze theatre. In Rajasthan, where Congress Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s image is substrata, L K Advani’s favourite Vasundhara Raje is being sniped at by Arun Chaturvedi, a Rajnath acolyte. In Uttar Pradesh, Rajnath and Mishra who is supported by Jaitley are locked in battle, leaving room for the Congress to conserve its energy to attack Mayawati.

In Uttarakhand, Advani supporter Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Rajnath confidant Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank are at war. In Bihar, where the BJP shares power with the JD(U), Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi is being sabotaged by C P Thakur who claims Rajnath’s backing.

The situation in Jharkhand is tragic comedy—Advani’s candidate for chief minister was Sinha, but Gadkari cast his vote in favour of Arjun Munda. The differences in the party became apparent when former party President Murli Manohar Joshi described the developments as a “theatre of the absurd”.

In Himachal Pradesh, the old rivalry between titans Prem Kumar Dhumal and Shanta Kumar continue unabated.

In Gujarat, loyalists of Advani and Swaraj are propping up Harin Pathak against Narendra Modi. Sanjay Joshi, former BJP national general secretary who was sidelined after a sex scandal, might return to the party—a move seen in party circles as clipping Modi’s wings. Gadkari and company reportedly favour Joshi’s return to active politics. Not a Modi favourite, Joshi claims support from large sections of the party.

In Karnataka, where Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa keeps winning election after election in spite of corruption charges, combat with Ananth Kumar continues nonstop. Once Yeddyurappa even attacked his bête noire with a chair in rage. Many groups operate within the state BJP: the Bellary Reddy brothers lead a gang of MLAs from Bellary while state party president K S Eshwarappa’s group is RSS-backed.

In Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress is in shreds, Shivraj Singh Chouhan sees Bharati as a contender for his well-administered chair. The Delhi state BJP is a battlefield on which Gadkari-backed Vijay Goel has been fighting Jaitley groupie Vijender Gupta.

In Punjab, where the BJP is a ruling alliance partner, it is demoralised by corruption scandals and the internecine strife between Manoranjan Kalia, a Swaraj follower and Tikshan Sood who is a Jaitley cohort. The enmity between Navjot Singh Siddhu and Avinash Rai Khanna is seen as an example of distrust between Jaitley and the RSS in Punjab. In Jammu and Kashmir, infighting became public after MLAs were expelled for cross-voting. In Orissa, the BJP seems to have thrown away the tribal advantage after former Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram was chosen over Dharmendra Pradhan as party chief. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is relieved at the cracks within the BJP, the BJD’s former partner. Oram is now at loggerheads with the sitting MLA from his former constituency Bhimsen Choudhury and is lobbying in Delhi to expel him from the party.

Delhi’s role has upstaged local leaders everywhere in the BJP. During the recent Assam Assembly elections, Varun—the election in-charge—had no say in the selection of candidates as Jaitley, the overall in-charge of Assam called the shots. Varun packed his bags to go off to Italy for his honeymoon rather than waste time playing second-fiddle.

MP Kabindra Purkayastha accuses the Central leadership of not building up the organisation in Assam. “Teamwork was missing and there is no consultation process between state and central leaders,” he says.

No more icons left

The satrap strife in the saffron party might end in the BJP squandering away a great opportunity to shape up as a credible alternative to the Congress, whose image has been battered by scams. It lacks a unifying figure like Vajpayee who stood tall above all controversy. In spite of respective coteries trying to drive a wedge between old friends, Vajpayee and Advani used to love watching films together. A BJP leader recalls them watching the movie Phir Subah Hogi, sometime in the late 1950s; the Jan Sangh had been trounced by the Congress in the second General Election.

Coming out of the cinema hall, Vajpayee joked, “phir subah hogi!” (dawn will come again!) It came briefly in 1977 when the Janata Party (with which the Jan Sangh had merged) rode the anti-Emergency wave and became part of Morarji Desai’s Cabinet. In 1996, the skyline lit up briefly when the BJP came to power as a minority government and again in 1998. A wish made in 1950 was fulfilled, and despite differences, Vajpayee and Advani had managed to bring the party to power at the Centre. One of the architects of the Janata Party coalition was Vajpayee. His stature ensured that a second attempt was successful 20 years later. Recalls BJP senior leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra, “It was Vajpayeeji’s idea of naming the conglomerate of parties as National Democratic Alliance, as he wanted to emulate Jan Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee who had formed the National Democratic Front in the First Lok Sabha in 1952 by cobbling together smaller parties and splinter groups.”

Satraps at war

Today, the BJP has formed splinter groups of its own. Asks a party leader, “Can anyone imagine Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley sitting together and watching a movie or sharing lunch, despite sitting in adjacent rooms in Parliament? They would rather hold separate get-togethers and invite journos for chit-chat and lunch but avoid each another, even though they are supposed to work in tandem on a daily basis, to ensure that the party-line is strictly followed in both the Houses of Parliament.” The animosity between Swaraj and Jaitley has led to several embarrassing moments for the party.

A debate on the CBI’s role in the Gujarat riots investigation was initiated by the BJP in the Rajya Sabha by Jaitley; but not in Lok Sabha since Swaraj dislikes Modi. On the controversial Indo-Pak Joint Statement in Sharm-el-Sheikh, the BJP took a belligerent stand and staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha; it stayed put in the Rajya Sabha.

On the Somali pirates issue, Jaitley avoided joining the BJP delegation to the PM’s residence led by Swaraj. On the controversial CVC appointment, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh admitted to goofing up on the floor of Parliament, Swaraj wanted it ignored and moved on but Jaitley said the matter should not end.

No new leaders

The BJP’s tragedy is that its senior leadership is trying to imitate the Gandhis by crushing state leaders, but they lack the charisma and electability of the ruling family. Beyond the current leadership that was created by Vajpayee and Advani, no BJP GenNext exists. The party has no presence in Haryana, has collapsed in Jammu and Kashmir, is a failure in Assam and West Bengal. Except in Karnataka, it is absent south of the Vindhyas. A failure to create a third generation leadership by insecure, power hungry leaders who are busy knifing each other in the back will be the party’s obituary after 2014.

The BJP now hopes to ride on the coattails of Team Anna and Baba Ramdev, seeking a piece of the limelight. BJP MP from Lucknow, Lalji Tandon, rubbishes the need for defensive action. “Neither Anna nor Ramdev are going to contest elections. We will be the ultimate beneficiaries,” he remarks.

He recalls how the Jan Sangh climbed on the JP bandwagon in the 1970s.

Today, the BJP’s engine has too many drivers. Whether it is Gadkari, Advani, Swaraj and Jaitley or Rajnath, all encourage their supporters in the states to keep rivals in check. In all likelihood, all this shadow boxing and strife will only lead to the party being checkmated all the way to 2014.

With inputs from Anil Gejji in Karnataka and Bijoy Pradhan in Orissa

***********

Keeping Modi out

Exactly one year ago, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi was forced to take back Rs 5 crore given to Bihar as flood relief. That the BJP is a partner of Bihar’s ruling alliance, headed by Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), didn’t deter the secular-thanthou Kumar from returning the money. Not one senior BJP leader protested. It was left to BJP Spokesperson Nirmala Sitharam to say, “I wonder if only the money is being returned or also the feeling of empathy, solidarity and spirit of togetherness is being returned.” Modi was barred from campaigning for the BJP in Bihar. Also within the political minefield that is the BJP, there is little empathy for Modi.

“Modi’s magic and charisma have worked in Gujarat, but it is not necessary that everybody’s magic works at every place. Nitishji has put no condition before us. The decision on who should or should not campaign in Bihar has been the sole discretion of BJP.” Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj admitted the party wasn’t overtly bothered. Ironically, his own party has used the Gujarat riots as an excuse to keep its most popular mass leader from the national campaign trail. In the last Assembly polls, Modi campaigned only in Assam and West Bengal. Mainline BJP leaders who had campaigned in these states whisper the party’s poor showing in these states prove Modi’s charisma works only in Gujarat.

Immediately after the NDA’s defeat in 2004, the saffron politburo of Ashoka Road also blamed the riots for the fall.

With Atal Bihari Vajpayee in poor health, the BJP has no mass leader who combines charisma with administrative excellence. Lal Krishna Advani has been relegated to Bhishmapitamah status—more adept at apologising to Sonia Gandhi and praising Jinnah than being a votecatcher. Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu et al know of Modi’s ability to achieve what the BJP tried with Rath Yatras and Ram Janmabhoomi rhetoric— polarise the Hindu vote and return the party to power in 2014. So far, Modi has concentrated on Gujarat. He has proved that he is an efficient administrator, a grassroots leader and a chief executive who can bring billions of dollars as FDIs: in short, a blueprint of a prime minister-in -waiting. Modi is quietly preparing for a hat-trick in 2012. He cares little for Delhi visits unlike other BJP chief ministers, except to attend Planning Commission and National Development Council conclaves.

“Indeed, he is our tallest leader. He works hard and enthuses his subordinates to deliver.

A thoroughly honest person, he works in a transparent manner. He is seen as a strong leader, who will not compromise with either the interest of the state or the nation. It’s the reason, why enemies fear him and friends respect him,” remarks Balbir Punj, BJP incharge of Gujarat.

Clearly an astute mind is at work—one with prime ministerial ambition. At the BJP Chief Ministers’ Conference in Delhi in the heat of May, Modi left his undeclared rivals sweating.

He questioned the leadership’s silence on the Government misusing Constitutional institutions including the CBI, to target him in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case. Modi thundered that BJP MPs should raise these issues in Parliament, suggesting that they should not wait for Leader of Opposition Swaraj’s signal. Modi was upping the ante from Gandhinagar.

His work culture in the party and in the state seems like a plan to establish credentials for a bigger platform—a worry for many in the party. BJP General Secretary Jagat Prakash Nadda says, “When I was with the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Narendra Modi was the in-charge. He remembers every task given to a BJYM worker, in the same sequence in which it was assigned, even after 20 days and asks for compliance reports.” As Chief Minister, Modi remains always unflappable. His message to the babus is clear: “Work has to be done. If you cannot manage, someone else will do it.” Many senior BJP leaders feel insecure that at party conclaves, it is Modi who draws the maximum applause from the workers, with nationalist rhetoric and acidic barbs against the Congress. This, perhaps, explains why many BJP bigwigs are busy building bridges with other political parties. Hoping the NDA does well in 2014, the jockeying for support for the prime post has begun—Jaitley is assiduously cultivating Kumar, while Swaraj goes about wooing Jayalalithaa.

At the BJP National Council meeting in Indore in February 2010, when BJP President Nitin Gadkari formally assumed charge, Modi tore apart the UPA Government’s policy on national security, wondering why it was in a hurry to resume a dialogue with Pakistan. “As a mature democracy, there is even greater need to talk to the principal opposition party.

Did they ever feel the need to talk to the BJP?” In the BJP, it seems, the need to talk to Modi isn’t apparent.

Modi's hits

■ Stable government; Modi is the longest-serving Chief Minister of the BJP

■ Consistently high economic and agricultural growth

■ No communal riots post-2002

■ Vibrant Gujarat summit attracts record investment which shows that Modi enjoys investors’ confidence

■ Administrative efficiency, modernisation

■ Gujarat, rated as best e-governed state, is set to usher in village-level e-governance

■ Swagat online grievance redressal that enables direct communication of citizens with CM besides steps like evening courts, Jyotigram electrification scheme, Kanya Kelavani Yojana have made Modi successful.

Power & Politics / Mail Today/ March 09, 2009

DESPITE frequent reminders to the contrary, most of us still like to believe that politics and sports should not be mixed. But last week was a curious case of a dose of politics coming to the rescue of sport.

It has taken but one season for the Indian Premier League to become the most anticipated event in the country's sporting calendar. But after the Election Commission announced the polls dates last Monday, the IPL, whose schedule was drawn up much earlier, faced the real danger of postponement, putting into disarray the carefully laid out plans of the eight teams that forked out crores of rupees to bring world- class cricketers to India to play for a worldwide audience.

It started with the normally extra cautious Home Minister P Chidambaram who cited security reasons and the strain of paramilitary forces to state that the IPL and LSE ( Lok Sabha Elections) cannot be held together. The real reason, I gather, is something else. PC’s statement may have something to do with the DMK government’s opposition to the holding of matches in Chennai, which in turn had less to with security concerns and more with the proximity of the Chennai Super Kings team bigwigs with the AIADMK’s Jayalalitha.

Since the Home Minister’s statement is seen as the official stand of the Centre, Sharad Pawar was quick to back it. But in the meantime, the Maharashtra Home Minister, Jayant Patil from Pawar’s own NCP, had already assured the Mumbai Cricket Association that the state government would provide full security for all matches featuring the Mumbai Indians to be played in the city. Elsewhere in the country too, apprehensive state governments were rapidly toeing the IPL line.

Behind the mystery of these quick turnarounds was the hand of commissioner Lalit Modi, whose baby the IPL is. In West Bengal, elections are never easy, never free and never fair and the Left Front government’s worries about law and order during the poll process wasn’t quite out of place. But the apprehensions were removed after Modi got Saurav Ganguly, cricketer- turned cricket ambassador, to contact Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. Even Shah Rukh Khan, who owns the local Kolkatta Knight Riders, is said to have got through to Writers Building.

Initially, the BJP officially adopted a low profile, but Arun Jeitley, its chief campaign strategist who is also on the IPL board, wasn’t lying low. He got all cricket associations in NDA- ruled states to offer their grounds, along with assurances from the local BJP governments of security for the teams. Overnight, Himachal offered the picturesque ground in Dharamsala, Modisaab in Gujarat said he would personally welcome teams to Rajkot and Ahmedabad, and in Madhya Pradesh, chief minister Shivraj Chauhan offered the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Indore. Police Commissioners and District magistrates in each of these cities were asked to give clearances after complying with the all requisite requirements.

What started out as political one- upmanship has now culminated in distant Dharmsala getting to host two matches of the Punjab Kings XI for which the stadium is being fitted with floodlights.
Sometimes a controversy ends well, and this is one of those. No major bruises, though the Congress is left looking a bit sheepish. When the first ball of the second IPL is bowled, cricket aficionados in the country will be saluting Modi, Pawar and Jaitley.