BJP’s Propaganda Balloon Gets Burst

 Harkishan Singh Surjeet

WHEN prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee launched his own poll campaign in Lucknow on April 5, the meeting held for the purpose only angered him because it was, to quote Hindustan Times (April 6), a “poorly attended rally.” Nay, it was reported that Vajpayee gave vent to his ire at a cadres meeting that was arranged for this very purpose later on.  

Vajpayee’s anger is understandable. It was also the day when deputy prime minister L K Advani’s “rath” had entered Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. But even these two top leaders of the BJP as well as of the union government failed to attract any sizeable crowd and the “ground where the rally was held was half-empty.” Some other papers reported that the total strength at the rally was not more than 6,000. But, then, even a local level leader could have attracted a bigger crowd.

Vajpayee’s anger is understandable. For, as the biggest state of Indian Union and with its biggest quota in Lok Sabha, Uttar Pradesh has been playing a crucial role in government formation at the centre. But, then, if the capital of Uttar Pradesh could so pour down cold water on the prime minister’s own poll campaign, it could not but come as a rude shock to BJP leaders.

One must not think that this was an isolated case. Not very long ago, when the same duo addressed a rally at Amritsar, after Advani’s “rath” reached that city, the reported attendance was no more than 7,000. Still before that, Advani had to face similar coldness from the people at Coimbatore in the south.

BJP’S BALLOON HOPELESSLY BURSTS

CLEARLY, the people of this country have refused to be swayed by the propaganda barrage the BJP has let loose with the help of media barons and by misutilising its hold on government machinery. It was not for nothing if the BJP had to accept that the so-called “Shining India” campaign had been “an overkill.” Too craftily, they refused to admit that the campaign itself lacked substance; they only said the middle classes were angered with the public expenditure it involved. It is another thing that this itself was an oblique admission of the misuse of public money for the BJP’s purposes. Be that as it may, the fact is that, notwithstanding all the image build-up in the media, Vajpayee has failed as a vote-catcher. 

The Lucknow meeting was remarkable from yet another point of view. This was perhaps the first time that Vajpayee appeared to be on the defensive. As the Hindustan Times reported, “Kicking off his own campaign here, prime minister A B Vajpayee seemed somewhat on the back foot --- defending himself against charges relating to his role in the freedom movement.” 

The important thing here is not what Vajpayee said in his defence; that in any case lacked conviction. The charge relating to the perfidious role he played in September 1942, at the height of the Quit India movement, is now widely known, and has been dealt with in these columns as well. The really important thing is that a person who has been very fond of taking offensive against his rivals, no doubt with support from the media, was seen on the defensive in his own constituency. This shows how badly and hopelessly the balloon of the BJP’s “feel good” campaign has burst.

DIVERSIONARY MOVES

IT is therefore not surprising that despite all the propaganda about India shining, the BJP still feels shy of discussing the real issues facing the country and its people. It has simply been making unfounded claims about reduction in poverty and unemployment, about public expenditure on health, education, drinking water, housing, road construction, agriculture and irrigation, and other areas. But these claims too have now become a butt of ridicule, most of all because they make a mockery of the genuine issues facing the people whose own day-to-day experiences do not tally with the claims being made.   

This has forced the party to resort to its own old devices to divert the people’s attention from real issues. One of the non-issues being raised for the purpose is of the foreign origin of Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi. How this issue lacks substance, however, was shown in these columns last week and we won’t go into its details here. One can only say that this issue too is not likely to help the BJP.

Yet another non-issue the party is seeking to exploit to divert the people’s attention is that of a temple. After winning the three assembly elections in November, BJP leaders went all the way to claim that they had won on the plank of development; moreover, it was said that the party would contest the Lok Sabha polls also on the same plank. The impression given was that there was no need to resort to the issues called contentious --- temple, article 370 and common civil code --- and that the developmental achievements made by the BJP led regime in the last five years would see the BJP and NDA through. Yet, after Advani started on his so-called rathyatra, the first issue he raised was that of temple. Moreover, speaking at Ayodhya, Vajpayee too asked the people to give him another term so that the “unfinished task” of temple construction could be completed. This was perfectly in line with his Kumarkom “musings” where he had described the same task as an unfulfilled “national aspiration.” Thus, even though stray BJP leaders still talk of development, the party has well realised that its so-called achievements are not going to cut much ice during the polls. This is the background in which the party is seeking to resurrect the issues called contentious, which are really divisive issues. 

The purpose is clear --- to divide the people on communal lines, which is virtually the last resort the BJP has. But, will this game really pay? There is every reason to doubt it. In Karnataka, the BJP, VHP and RSS tried their best to conjure the issue of Baba Budangiri shrine, in a bid to effect a communal polarisation in the state, and miserably failed. The BJP may well see its communal plank failing it at the all-India level as well. 

This is not to minimise the gravest threat the BJP’s diversionary moves may pose to our national unity, communal harmony and secular fabric. This is in fact a threat to our very existence as a civilised nation, and this is the most important reason why the BJP and allies should be defeated in these polls.

CLUTCHING THE STRAWS

AWARE of its weaknesses during the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has also been trying other methods to capture as many seats as possible. One of them is to seek allies at whatever cost. It is known that the BJP led NDA consisted of as many as two dozen parties, and yet it could form a government only with outside support from the TDP. But, now that some ten parties have deserted the NDA and several other NDA parties like the Trinamul Congress and BJD are facing internal dissensions, the BJP’s desperation has grown manifold. 

It was in such a situation that it approached the AIADMK in Tamilnadu and had to remain content with only six seats Ms Jayalalithaa offered the BJP ‘magnanimously.’ As for Andhra Pradesh, even saying that the BJP is playing second fiddle to the TDP would be a gross exaggeration. In Uttar Pradesh, as its last hope, the party is trying to ensure that the anti-BJP votes get divided between the SP, BSP, Congress and RLD. Here, the party had to bite dust and re-admit the same Kalyan Singh whom it had expelled from its ranks, at Vajpayee’s instance, a few years ago. This was done in the vain hope that it may help it get some more OBC votes. However, two of the top BJP leaders in the state --- Kalyan Singh and Vinay Katiyar --- have already run away from their home districts, in search of safer pastures.  

Another device the BJP is using is to gather a crowd of film and TV stars, cricket personalities, etc, and Pramod Mahajan is on record saying that anyone who has money and influence is welcome to the BJP. However, it has also transpired that many of these worthies have agreed to campaign for the BJP for a fee. For instance, Smriti Malhotra Irani, the bahu of a TV serial, will charge one crore rupees from the party for campaigning, while her saas would get Rs 25 lakh. The curious, and murky, aspect of this phenomenon is that, themselves living in a make-believe world, these worthies do not know a bit about the real life conditions of Indian masses, nor do they know even the ABC of politics, and one can well imagine what they would do to highlight the real issues facing the common people of this country. 

This shows the lowly depths to which the BJP has brought down the political dialogue in this country.

HARBOURING THE CRIMINALS

YET another straw a drowning BJP is trying to grab is to use muscle power in elections. During the United Front regime, when the Vohra committee submitted its report on criminalisation of politics in the country, the BJP was quite vocal in condemning this tendency, and rightly so. But later it transpired that, just like its usual self, the BJP was only sermonising others on the need of political probity; otherwise it was in no mood to ensure that its own behaviour remained above board. 

The BJP is doubly guilty on this score. First, it has harboured criminals no end and even made them ministers, as in UP, Gujarat and Jharkhand. Nay, two of those involved in the crime of Babri demolition are ministers in the union cabinet while a third is the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh today. Secondly, during the last six years of BJP in power, it has not moved a single finger to rid our political system of this curse of criminalisation. It did effect a few changes in electoral laws, but only ones that suited it. There was no move to enact a legislation to curb this menace. In an earlier article in this paper, we have already dealt in detail with these aspects of the problem.

And now the BJP is again seeking to use the muscle power of these criminals in the coming elections.  

This is not to say that the BJP is the only party to harbour the criminals. The fact is that it is only the Left parties that have always kept criminals at an arm’s length; otherwise, to a greater or lesser extent, all the bourgeois-landlord parties have been trying to use not only money power but also the muscle power for electoral gains. But the thing is that the BJP has far surpassed others in this game.  

However, more important than the number aspect, the qualitative aspect of the problem is that the BJP not only sermonises others on political morality; it even seeks to justify its own conduct in the name of principles. When caught, Dilip Singh Judeo tried to justify his bribe-taking by saying that the money was meant for his reconversion drive. As if that makes the black money, and a black deed, white!

WHY THE NDA MUST BE ROUTED

THE above lines do give an idea of what degeneration in our political system has set in during the BJP regime. In fact, this regime has posed a big question mark on the very future of our democratic polity. The secular and federal fabric of our body politic is facing a serious threat under this regime, and so is the very life standard of our people. Be it the BJP’s economic policies or its communal drive, its move for saffronisation of our institutions or its dubious contribution to criminalisation of our political system, all these bode ill for our very future as a civilised, democratic nation. 

And no less dangerous is the foreign policy of the Vajpayee government that seeks to tie our great country to the apron string of US imperialists. It is known that this government has ignored world public opinion and not taken a single step to revitalise the non-aligned movement. Nor has it deemed it necessary to join hands with Russia and China so as to face the burning international problems of today. The fact is that such steps could make us much stronger in world arena and could have restored the prestige India once enjoyed in the international community. In the field of foreign policy, the sole aim of this government has been to serve the imperialist interests and to make India an adjunct to the US’s drive for world hegemony. That this foreign policy is harming our national interest and killing our self-reliant growth prospect is evident even today, and it is no exaggeration to say that if the NDA combine is allowed to come back to power, its foreign policy will further undermine our independent status and our self-reliance, even the livelihood and employment of our people. 

Thus, the most immediate task today is to rout the BJP and the NDA at the hustings --- for the sake of our civilised status, our federal and secular democratic system, for the sake of our composite culture, for the sake of a better life of our people, and for restoring our prestige in the world arena.

The Left parties are very clear about the task at hand. They are also the uncompromising defenders of our people’s interests. Hence it is imperative that the Left strength in the next Lok Sabha must increase. Yet, the struggle at hand is not the struggle of the Left parties alone. Rather, all the democratic and secular forces, inside political parties and outside, have to come forward to wage this struggle effectively --- and successfully.