BJP: Old wine in new bottle

BJP reiterated its commitment to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya, press for abrogating Article 370 and implementation of the Uniform Civil Code at its National Executive Committee session

Akash Bisht Delhi Hardnews

BJP President Rajnath Singh accepted "full responsibility" for the party's defeat in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections in the National Executive Committee session of the party on Saturday.

"...We must collectively find out the solution. Yes, if anyone feels that any person should take the responsibility, then as the President of the party, I am willing to take this responsibility," he said. Rajnath Singh added that it was not a nationwide debacle and the party had performed well in some states and not so well in others. The national executive, which began at Parliament Annexe, will assess BJP's poor electoral performance and look for ways to revive the morale of the cadre.

Senior BJP leaders maintained that the meeting is a step in trying to understand the reasons for party's poll defeat. On the question of whether the party will keep pursuing the Hindutva ideology, Singh said, "Hindutva/ Bharatiyata/ cultural nationalism occupy the same esteemed space in the politics of the BJP as the Constitution of India occupies in the politics of the country." Party leaders agreed that no compromises would be done with the Hindutva ideology and the only aspect that needed introspection is how to make it acceptable to all. "The election was not a verdict on BJP's concept of Hindutva, which is liberal and tolerant," said party spokesperson, Ravi Shankar Prasad at a press conference.

The BJP has been in a slew of trouble in the recent past. Despite a gag order by the party leadership, the rift in the party has been all over the media causing embarrassment to the party.

Letters written by Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha objecting to party's decision to make Arun Jaitley the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha were mysteriously leaked to the media adding to the party's misery. Senior leader Arun Shourie also wrote to Singh demanding a debate on the party's performance in the elections. All this hasn't gone down well with the BJP president. As a result, Shourie wasn't even allowed to raise any issue on the first day of the summit. Party leaders are of the view that leaks are to be discussed sometime later at the summit and a conclusion would be reached to avoid any further embarrassment to the party.

Hardnews learnt, at the office-bearers' meeting in the capital on Friday, the party acknowledged that Varun's hate remarks have done the party a lot of damage and what he said was not what the party believes in. Shahnawaz Hussain and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi raised the issue and got support from the party president who said that the party believes in equal respect for all religions.

Singh in his speech said, "Yes, I accept that we may not have been able to disseminate our position on these issues (Hindutva) among the people as effectively as it was required in the present context. Perhaps, we need to present our views in a better and more contemporary context."

Not learning their lessons from the recent poll debacle when the electorate rejected BJP's proposed policies, the party president said, "This time in our election manifesto we reiterated our commitment to building a grand temple on the Shri Ram Jananbhoomi, our clear views for abrogating Article 370 and our appeal for implementing the Uniform Civil Code. Even today we are firm on these issues because we believe that they are the core issues of the unity and integrity of the country. All these issues are in the national interest. In the coming years, we need to more effectively convince the people about these issues."

With BJP getting back to what it was rejected for in the Lok Sabha elections, the party's hope of regaining lost ground seems not very easy. Only time will tell whether in the coming years the BJP would find mass acceptance on not-so-important issues like Ram Janambhoomi and Article 370 among others. At present, the party seems to be alienating itself from the issues of national interest and in turn hurting prospects of its own survival.