knowledge has no horizons

“United we stand; divided we fall” will probably be the apt adage for the BJP at present. Being the main opposition party in India that challenged the century-old Congress right from its inception in 1980, it now suffers a lot from internal bickering and infightings within the party. Despite the fact that it was just a 3-years-old political party when it faced the parliamentary election in 1984, it could send two members to represent it in parliament. The 1989 election came as an astounding surprise for the national parties as it reaped a good number of 89 seats, and in 1991 with yet another astonishing win securing 121 seats, it had all reasons to believe to win the people’s mandates to form government in the centre. It came true in the 1996 elections, Atal Bihari Vaypayee being the prime minister.

What went in the past was good for the BJP and what was thought only for the sake of it. Vajpayee going out of the active political scene, things in BJP started to turn upside down. Internal bickering and infighting began to sprout in all of its forms from all the sides. They are not started with the expulsion of Jaswant Singh on August 19 from the party, as one may think, for extolling Jinnah in his book. It had it roots even before the parliamentary election over the context of next prime ministerial candidate. Albeit Advani being announced the official candidate to the chair of prime minister – Advani is, of course and obviously, the senior-most leader in BJP after Vaypayee – there were shouts among the party itself for Narendra Modi to be announced the apt one. Veteran BJP leader and the former vice-president Shekhawat’s wish for the same post is, too, worth mentioning here. The public spat between the party leader, Rajnath Singh, and the party secretary, Arun Jaitley, have done enough harm to the party in the elections. What is pathetic is that the BJP let smother the animosities, albeit not outwardly, between them yet. (Reason for the BJP’s debacle in the election, click http://dhanabalakrishnan.blogspot.com/2009/05/congress-reaped-good-harvest-whereas.html)

A man who is committing a mistake and does not correct it is committing another mistake, and it is applicable to political parties, too. BJP lost enough in the elections simply by virtue of party infightings, along with some other causes. Instead of inquiring into the infightings that took place in pre-elections, it brought forth internal bickering anew and brought into the political fore. Rajasthan might be the place that BJP don’t want. Vasunthara Raje, Jaswant Singh and, now the ex-vice president Shekhawat are all in the row, causing squabbles and tussles in the party. Raje, the then chief minister of Rajasthan, was set the target of BJP’s first victim. Bidding her to step down from the position of opposition leader of Rajasthan assemble was to no avail. Her supporters thronged Advani’s house, demanding the party chief to withdraw from their stand. The party was on fire, which resulted in the suspension of two MLAs considered to be Raje’s loyalists.

The next fell a victim was the army general-turned CM of Uttarakhand, Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri, who had to quit from his chair when the former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari bayed for his blood after BJP washed out in the state in the parliamentary election and resigned his Rajya Saba insisting on his resignation. Koshiyari’s demand was heard of and Khanduri stepped down.

That a figure of prominence falling a victim on the grounds of the party’s disciplinary action is the man who ornamented the NDA regime, serving as the External Minister and a Finance Minister for a while is Jaswant Singh. He might not have thought that writing a book eulogizing the Pakistan founder, Jinnah, would let in his political career drastic and adverse effects. Jaswant Singh is not Advani in the party, and this despite the fact, the latter’s visit to Pakistan and his consequent appreciating comments on Jinnah at his memorial asked for a lot of argle-bargle and altercations within the party and made him to be meekly submissive to the RSS. The party has got its guts for garters by expelling Singh out of the party for the same cause – praising Jinnah – now in a book.

The party infightings got a new shape when another senior leader and the former minister Arun Shourie called in an interview to the NDTV the BJP president Rajnath ‘Alice in blunderland’ and the party a ‘kite without a string’ after the expulsion of Jaswant Singh. Albeit ‘unexpected’ is the remark as BJP itself opined of his opinion, the remark came not without a reason. Shourie openly asked for change in the leadership level and pointed out that RSS should rebuild the party.

None might have thought that Kulkarni would turn against the party. His decision to step out the party comes on the grounds of ideological differences, though. It has had it roots from Jaswant’s book and the forthwith expulsion. He didn’t find himself disturbed to tell in his interview to the Times Now that ‘it is not proper for an individual to remain inside the party and express his views’ and assert Singh’s expulsion a ‘graceless’ action. He couldn’t find any difference in the remarks on Jinnah expressed by Advani and Jaswant Singh, he added.

Now it is the turn for the former vice-president Shekhawat to come to rescue for the expelled leader Jaswant Singh. "The way Jaswant was treated was not good. There is a need to praise his book," this came after the expelled leader called on him at his home, and this meeting happened on the pretext of inquiring Shekhawat’s health. He never failed to express his concern over the increasing indiscipline in the party and the fall in the standards.

Expulsion and suspension are coming at ease in BJP. The month of June witnessed the expulsion of Himachal Pradesh senior leader, Dulo Ram, on the grounds of allegedly indulging in anti-party activities. Suspension of the Delhi leader Lal Chand Mehraulia on disciplinary grounds led the Delhi BJP activists to urge their leaders to reinstate him.

It is natural for national parties to have infightings and internal bickering: Congress suffered from this a lot in the past and at present in certain states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala: One may not forget the same in the Left parties recently. But what the BJP should take to mind and remember is that is no use in expelling or suspending – simply on the disciplinary grounds – but sorting the causes of infightings out and rooting them out.