The Hindu : Front Page : "Back to basics" to change nation is BJP's message

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 31, 2005

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Front Page

"Back to basics" to change nation is BJP's message

Neena Vyas

Dedicated persons needed to carry "moral authority": Venkaiah

MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party's political "message" from its silver jubilee National Council session was "back to basics," not forgetting that it was part of a larger Parivar with the aim of not just catapulting itself into power, but to change India.

The party had been sending out this message repeatedly at least for the last two years, suggesting that its attempts were unsuccessful so far. It had been telling party cadre that it was part of an "ideological movement" and "ideology and idealism were its distinctive characteristics."

Senior leader Venkaiah Naidu said the party needed a few dedicated persons,who would not contest elections but work relentlessly at every level of the organisation and carry "moral authority." It was an idea first mooted when Kushabau Thakre became party president in 1998 and the party came to power at the Centre.

The signal was that a large number of `pracharaks' from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh would be inducted into the party at critical positions taking forward a process that began earlier.

To drive home the point, Mr. Naidu added: "We are inspired by the Sangh and the earlier perception that we have moved away from the Sangh ideology must be corrected."

Another BJP leader close to the RSS, Bal Apte, said the party did not function in isolation as it was part of an "ideological movement" called Hindutva. If any one had any doubt, he reinforced the point by adding: "our idealism is rooted in the Sangh ideology."

He said Hindutva was not confined to just three or four issues such as banning cow slaughter, building a Ram temple at Ayodhya or implementing a uniform civil code.

The larger aim of the Sangh, to change Hindu society, was also the aim of the BJP. He said the BJP "should not allow others to limit its agenda."

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