The god’s own party has been rudely brought down to earth once again over ideological confusion or is it just a confusion of ideas.
It is amazing how the urge to redefine Mohammed Ali Jinnah has become symptomatic of the BJP’s internal crisis: Of its periodic attempts to break its umbilical cord with its parent body, the RSS. Of its urge to chart a politically viable right-wing course free of diktats from Nagpur. Of wanting to be more compatible with the present reality, which is at variance with the many strands of India’s complicated past. The ghost of Jinnah and the history of Partition seem to unfailingly appear to haunt the BJP every time it is faced with a succession war. So much so that it induces a sense of déjà vu.
In 2005, it was none other than LK Advani on whom the axe fell. In 2009, it is Jaswant Singh. It cut Jaswant deeper than his friend and colleague of 30 years. But the loss of face for the former was no less. Advani’s ‘Jinnah-was-a-great-secular-leader’ comment was the beginning of a political downslide from which he could never really recover, even after he was projected as the party’s prime ministerial candidate.
The disastrous poll results, and his private confessions later to one of his admirers that the party machinery and the RSS worked at half-mast for his campaign – the whole thing harked back to a decisive crack in the relationship post-Jinnah. His diminished stature and the obvious disarray in his camp had a direct correlation to the Congress resurgence.
For both Jaswant and Advani, Jinnah proved to be the last straw. In Advani’s case, the first fault occurred when he got himself appointed party president after the 2004 poll debacle without a clearance from the RSS. Just like the current sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, his predecessor KS Sudarshan too used a television interview to send a stern message to the BJP top brass that old leaders must make way for the next generation. But the RSS waited for Advani to slip another step. He provided Nagpur with the perfect alibi – an emotional exposition at the Jinnah mausoleum in Pakistan. His considered contrarian view – perhaps an attempt to do a Vajpayee and move towards the political centre – alarmed even his core support group. The RSS did not have to do much.
At that time, the only concession made to Advani – a colossus, after all, in whose shadows the party walked so long – was that he could choose the time of his exit as party chief. He was also allowed to retain the post of Leader of Opposition, which allowed a foothold to stitch up a compromise. It’s not insignificant that now the RSS is keen to see him relinquish that position and hand over the baton to a new leader without much ado. In fact, the seed of the current crisis in the BJP lies in the struggle between Advani (who, for all his initial protestations, is clearly not interested in giving up his parliamentary position) and the parent body for control over the party.
Jaswant’s unceremonious expulsion is just a sub-plot that developed into a full chapter in the story of this tussle for control. The surfacing of an election post-mortem – the mysterious ‘Bal Apte report’, which reads more like a compilation of media reports than an internal party analysis – is another chapter, still being written. Unfortunately for Jaswant, he became a convenient pawn to sacrifice. But he, too, like Advani, supplied rivals with enough ammunition that could be used against him.
His labour of five years, Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence, may earn him tidy royalties but has cost him an honourable political retirement.
It’s surprising enough that Jaswant thought he could pull if off. That he could stretch himself to refashion the BJP’s ideological position by bringing forth the issue of Muslim angst, tangentially hinting at his party’s inability to accept varied regional identities. Also, that he could deign to play historian, fashion a whodunit that included a re-look at the infallible Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, relieving Jinnah’s ghost of some of the burden of Partition – this was always going to be too much for the party to digest. Especially during this turbulent period; marked by a lack of clear leadership and crisis of political identity!
As a non-RSS man, Jaswant was never a party ideologue despite all the erudition he displays on foreign policy issues. Was he, as some in the RSS periphery believe, trying to project himself as a possible successor? Could be! But the case against him has been piling up. The embarrassment he caused the party after he suggested the presence of a US mole in former prime minister Narasimha Rao’s office and then failed to name him; the way the Congress mocked the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate Advani on the NDA government’s terrorist exchange programme following the Kandahar hijack, all went against him.
In fact, it seems his friend of 30 years did not forgive him for contradicting the position he took in his autobiography on the Kandahar episode. Close aides of Advani feel that much of the BJP’s legitimate campaign against Manmohan Singh’s “poor” track record on internal security fell through because of Jaswant.
Politically too, there were rumblings against Jaswant for encouraging dissidence in the party in Rajasthan, leading to the BJP’s poll debacle in the Assembly and later the parliamentary elections. Post-poll too, his “pompous pronouncements” on the poor show and his attempt to act “holier than thou” by not turning up for half the sittings in the recent Parliament session were seen to be acts of sulking not behoving a senior leader.
A section within the party is also suggesting that he was behind the media leak of the internal letter war that was taking place in the wake of the election debacle. “The Sangh is understandably angry that Jaswantji enjoyed all the perks and positions of power without believing in the core ideology. How can he criticise the Sangh of being ‘suvidha-bhogi’, what is he then?” one of the leaders queried.
By showing Jaswant the door, both Rajnath Singh and LK Advani expected to put a lid on the internecine warfare and blame game taking place in the party. In participating in the unanimous decision, Advani may have also saved his skin, buying himself some time, since he has managed to convey to Nagpur that he is willing to abide by the Sangh’s diktats.
It is also clear that he will not go for an ideological overhauling of the party.
However, sources say it is just a temporary reprieve for the duo. The RSS is determined to bring about a holistic change in the organisation to keep the BJP, and through the political outfit, its own agenda alive and relevant on the national stage. Sources in the know say that if the RSS has its way, none of the second-rung leaders would make the cut in the succession war. One of the recent RSS inductees into the BJP could be the ‘dark horse’ Bhagwat mentioned in his interview. As of now, though, none of the RSS-wallahs hold any key position in the party hierarchy. Therefore, Advani and his coterie has a slight edge.