Posted: Sun, Feb 28 2010. 10:03 PM IST
Economy and Politics
Cornered BJP woos Dalits and Muslims to retain its relevance
The cadre-based party may not be successful in glueing together
extreme ends of India's electorate, say analystsLiz Mathew and Ruhi
Tewari
New Delhi: Fear of being marginalized is driving the main opposition
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) towards hitherto uncharted territory. The
party that rose to the centre stage by championing the cause of
upper-caste Hindus is now reaching out to Dalits and backward castes,
and sending overtures to Muslims in a bid to expand its support base
and retain its political relevance.
Some analysts say this is a "Congressification" of the BJP—a mimicking
of the strategy that helped its arch foe the Congress party, rule
India for much of its independent history and again replace the BJP at
the helm of the Union government six years ago.
Towards moderation: A 19 Feburary photo of BJP national president
Nitin Gadkari (centre) with party leaders Ananth Kumar (right) and
Shivraj Singh Chauhan during the party's national executive meet in
Indore. PTI
Analysts also say this strategy comes naturally to the Congress, which
has mostly been a broad-based party, while the cadre-based BJP may not
be as successful in glueing together extreme ends of India's
electorate. Nonetheless, the BJP's efforts will give the Congress
competition and keep it on its toes, they say.
Newly elected BJP president Nitin Gadkari, speaking at the annual
meeting of the party's national executive recently, sought to enlist
the support of Dalits and backward castes that make up a significant
chunk of India's voters.
He also called upon Muslims to accept a Ram temple at the site of the
Babri mosque—which was razed in 1992 by a mob as the climax of a Hindu
nationalist movement led by BJP leaders—in return for another mosque
in the neighbourhood.
Political observers termed it a turn towards moderation, crucial for a
party that has lost two consecutive general elections and a string of
state elections and seen its voter base dwindle over the past six
years.
"It has now become electorally imperative for the BJP to move towards
moderation, also made important by compulsions of a coalition era,"
said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president, Centre for Policy Research, a New
Delhi-based think tank. "What Hindu nationalism fundamentally needs is
politics of anxiety, which is much less now than earlier and hence the
BJP is not succeeding in polarizing (the electorate) now. In this
context, it is moving towards moderation."
Muslims and Dalits have always been crucial for Indian political
parties—national or regional. Muslims constitute around 14% of the
national population, according to the 2001 census. While there is no
accurate estimate of the Dalit population, different studies peg it
between 16% and 20%.
"It is a democratic fact that to be a mass-based national party, you
require a significant base among Dalits," Mehta pointed out.
Saibal Gupta, a Bihar-based political and development analyst, said
national parties had realized that a coalition of extremes, which
includes all sections of society from Brahmins to Dalits, was the most
effective strategy to stay in power.
The Congress, he said, had always banked upon this strategy until its
decline in the 1990s.
"It got breached and unfortunately for them, those kind of coalitions
have been forming in different parts of the country. (Chief minister)
Nitish Kumar is trying it in Bihar and in Andhra Pradesh, (former
chief minister) N. Chandrababu Naidu managed to do it," said Gupta,
founder and member secretary of the Asian Development Research
Institute, Patna.
But the Congress reinvented itself to storm to power in 2004 at the
head of a rainbow coalition called the United Progressive Alliance
(UPA). In last year's election, the party led the alliance to a second
term in power.
Although it continues to rule with the help of allies, general
secretary Rahul Gandhi, who is seen as a future prime ministerial
candidate, is keen to bring the Congress to power on its own.
The party is now making a concerted pitch to regain lost ground in the
politically crucial states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which together
send 120 members to the Lok Sabha. Smaller parties such as the
Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Janata Dal (United) and
the Rashtriya Janata Dal have captured a large chunk of the electorate
in these states.
"It is tougher for the BJP than the Congress (to be a big tent party).
Congress has been, in the last couple of years, able to convey
different messages. It has shifted from (former prime minister) Rajiv
Gandhi's techno-managerial orientation to inclusive orientation,"
Gupta said.
Mehta hoped the BJP's efforts would at least keep the Congress from
becoming complacent.
"With both Congress and BJP now vying for the same political space,
what it will do is push Congress out of its complacency. But the
Congress is still at an advantage compared to the BJP, given that the
latter's geographical base is not that wide," he said. "It will have
to peak in all states where it has a presence simultaneously in order
to replace the Congress."
Regional parties are not amused by the new agenda set by the national
parties. "(Regional parties) are very much needed in the current
political scenario," said Jose K. Mani, a Lok Sabha member belonging
to Kerala Congress (Mani).
"Even in the context of development," he added, "when national parties
tend to ignore certain regions, it is the smaller parties which sense
the deep-rooted issues of the people."
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