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BJP tries new trick, talks soft
and mentions poor
But will
it be able to fool the people who have seen its true colours?
WSN Bureau
 Funny are the
ways of the Hindutva parties. Even as Punjab's ruling Akali Dal led
by the House of Badals has no compunction in joining hands with the
ultranationalist right-wing Hindu minded party BJP, the BJP is now
trying to don a new avtar.
The new BJP
chief, Nitin Gadkari, who has been stressing a back-to-basics
approach for the party, is now seriously trying a new drama. Having
realised that the hard Hindutva policies have failed to bring the
party to power, Gadkari is now trying a new trick. In the recent
National Council meeting of his party, Gadkari signalled a
departure from the so-called emotive issues to those affecting the
poorest sections of society.
In his first
address to the party’s National Council here after his election as
party president was ratified by some 5,000 delegates on Thursday,
Mr. Gadkari indicated that he was ready to fight the Congress on
what it may consider its home turf — struggle for the poor and the
downtrodden and take the country’s development forward.
The buzz words
in his 24-page inaugural address were “antyodaya” (welfare of the
poorest), “samajik samrasta” (social equality) and “vikas”
(development) with social justice.
Gadkari did
mention the Ram temple issue at the end of his hour-long address,
only to emphasise he was doing so for “otherwise the media will
write that he has skipped the issue.”
Contrary to the
BJP’s routine assertion that come what may, a Ram temple will be
built at the disputed spot, he preferred to “appeal to the Muslim
community to be generous towards the sentiments and feelings of
Hindus and facilitate the construction of a grand Ram temple.”
Although he
dwelt at length on terrorism,
Pakistan
and Kashmir, there was no mention of the abrogation of Article 370
conferring a special status on Kashmir, and gave the line,
elaborated later in the resolution on security issues, that there
cannot be talks with Pakistan alongside terror attacks emanating
from its soil.
He talked about
the agony of the workers in the unorganised sector, called on his
party men to go to the villages, highlighted plans to end farmers’
suicides, and finally indicated that the BJP could grow if it could
attract 10 per cent of the poorest and most downtrodden sections of
society, including Dalits.
Political
pundits in India were quick to point out that the BJP seems to be
out to change its image without changing any of its core ideologies
and without giving up the agent of hate.
24
February 2010
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