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BJP's difficult yatra

The crisis in the Congress is hardly hidden from public view — a succession of scams, a bitter controversy that led the party chief to resign from important posts, and a none-too-happy prognosis for the Assembly elections. If the premier national opposition party has gained nothing from its adversary's series of blunders, it is because it is in a bigger mess. Since the upset of May 2004, factionalism within the Bharatiya Janata Party has deepened, with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh content to preside over quarrels at the top. The rift the BJP foresaw between the Prime Minister and the "super Prime Minister" is now more visible among Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, and Rajnath Singh. Internal differences are reflected in the opposition to Mr. Advani's Bharat Suraksha yatra, which was flagged off on Thursday. In recent interviews, the former BJP president has acknowledged his difficulties, seeing them as flowing from his appreciation of Mohammad Ali Jinnah's August 1947 vision. His assessment is that the party did not seize the Jinnah opportunity and is stuck with an image that does not do it justice. In the public perception, the BJP is affected by "Congressisation... infighting, factionalism, corruption ...they do hurt." Yet the Leader of the Opposition seems to waver on the image he wants for his party. His references to Jinnah's August 1947 secular vision suggested a less chauvinist orientation for the BJP; but there has been a contradicting reiteration of old shibboleths. The Advani view is that the BJP needs an image that is "true to our concept of cultural nationalism" and "we don't have to fight shy of being proud Hindus." He accuses the United Progressive Alliance Government of going out on a limb in pursuit of "minority appeasement" — the theme of his yatra.

This is Hindutva-speak. The stance reflects the ideological rigidity of a parivar that has no compunction in dumping a once-valued warrior rather than accommodate his dissent. The upping of the sectarian ante signals growing frustration within the BJP, which has no worthwhile non-sectarian issue to raise with voters. The realist Advani sees no early possibility of an alternative to the UPA Government. Party strategists have targeted Sonia Gandhi only to be outsmarted each time. The current round of Assembly elections holds no promise for the BJP. The news from Uttar Pradesh — where a `Tamil Nadisation' of politics seems to have occurred — is that the party has been edged out of the race by the big two, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. The BJP's desperation is underlined by Rajnath Singh's overtures to Uma Bharti. Clearly, the party is rattled by the crowds the sadhvi is drawing at her rallies and does not want her as an opponent in U.P. It does not help Mr. Singh that the RSS is engaged in a double play: asking Mr. Singh to toe the line and giving issue-based support to Ms. Bharti and other raw proponents of Hindutva.

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