Column

There’s an eerie silence from the BJP after the results of the so-called semi-final round of elections were announced on December 8. Except for a terse statement issued by Arun Jaitley the same evening, the motor mouths of Indian politics have been unnaturally quiet. It began on counting day, when the numbers started showing the BJP slipping in Delhi and Rajasthan. Television channels were chagrined by the speed with which their saffron guests went underground and made themselves unavailable for post-election analyses. This uncharacteristic behaviour continued through the week with the party cancelling all media briefings and BJP MPs avoiding the usual chitter-chatter that fills the corridors of Parliament when a session is on. LK Advani was apparently even reluctant to speak in the Lok Sabha debate on the Mumbai terror strike. He tried to persuade his deputy in the House, VK Malhotra, to initiate the discussion instead of him. But Malhotra, who otherwise never misses a chance to grab the spotlight, had neither the verve nor the vigour after the hammering in Delhi.

Inexplicable as it sounds, given that the BJP retained two out of the four heartland states that went to polls, the party has been in turmoil after the results. The knives are out for another bitter round of infighting, with Advani’s rivals positioning themselves to take a final stab at dislodging him from his pre-eminent perch at the top. It was Murli Manohar Joshi who sounded the first war cry. He launched into attack on December 8 itself, when the party’s parliamentary board met to discuss the results. Joshi usually speaks in Brahmanical riddles but this time he was pretty forthright, according to reports that filtered out from the meeting. He told Advani that there should be some accountability for the BJP’s poor performance in Delhi and Rajasthan. When Arun Jaitley said he ownedresponsibility since he was in charge, Joshi rounded on him with a nasty reminder that he had refused to be the chief ministerial candidate despite being asked.

The next day, the RSS got into the act. According to reports circulating in the BJP, the Sangh chief’s understudy Mohan Bhagwat telephoned Advani with uncomfortable questions about the choice of candidates and talk of insider sabotage. The Sangh top brass has been in a huddle at its Delhi headquarters in Jhandewalan the whole week to analyse the outcome of the polls and assess their implications for next year’s national election. Significantly, till the weekend, Advani had not been called in. The RSS would want to complete the consultation process before sitting down with Advani to hammer out a future strategy for the BJP. There are two critical issues before the saffron forces.

One is the leadership question. Is Advani the right face for the BJP to project to fight the Congress triumverate of Sonia Gandhi (the mother figure), Manmohan Singh (experience) and Rahul Gandhi (youth)? The second is the use of terror as a poll plank. If it didn’t work in the Delhi polls despite an attack in Mumbai, will it work in a national election? There are no easy answers. In the meantime, the BJP’s sagging morale is helping to boost spirits in the Congress. In the seesaw battle for power, the BJP’s loss is a gain for the Congress.

TAILPIECE
Electioneering in Kashmir is risky business. So when Congress minister in charge of J&K Prithviraj Chavan wanted to travel to National Conference leader Omar Abdullah’s constituency of Ganderbal, the police initially refused permission. When he insisted, they gave in but ensured that the route was totally sanitised. Consequently, Chavan didn’t see a soul on the way.Then suddenly a huge crowd of several thousands materialised. They were cheering and waving Congress and Indian flags. The heartening sight sparked off speculation about Omar’s fortunes with Chavan being besieged by calls from people wanting to know whether the NC leader was winning or losing!

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net