26

Mar

Growing signs of anguish, suffocation and helplessness in BJP

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A close-up of a person with glasses AI-generated content may be incorrect.Let me begin my outpourings today with a personal note. Like me, a regular column writer is confronted with a dilemma week after week as the time of penning the column approaches. What subject should I pick up this week which would interest my dear readers who take pains to read me week after week. Burden grows when one has to effort to choose words which deserve or qualify for the “Wednesday Wisdom”-the name of my column. Wisdom and that too on Wednesday which according to Hindu ethos and mythology is the Day of Lord Ganesh who is said to be repositor of “intellect’.

So, with his grace, while I was on morning walk engrossed in active thinking to find a suitable subject for the coming Wednesday, a fellow resident with whom I have had serious discussions on topics that are current with two of us having different and contrary views-he being a staunch follower of RSS and a votary of the BJP and I opposing him ran into me.

Like an angel, he rescued me by suggesting a subject which was troubling him. He said that “we in the party are saddened over the delay in appointment or selection of the new BJP chief as the incumbent president Jagat Prakash Nadda’s terms, who is holding dual posts both in the government as well as in the party, ended almost ten months back” but media is not raising any question over this issue. He urged me to take up the issue in our website U Tube’s ‘Choti, choti sei bat’ program triggering me to take up the issue first in my column so I can formulate my opinion succinctly before I record audio-video program for uploading it on U Tube. We bid goodbye with his parting shot, ‘Duo of Ranga-Billa’ is destroying our party, but don’t be mistaken my vote will again go the BJP.

 

Column at a Glance
The author reflects on the challenges of writing a weekly column, particularly the pressure to choose relevant topics. During a morning walk, a fellow resident, a BJP supporter, expressed concern over the prolonged delay in appointing a new party president, as the current president, Jagat Prakash Nadda, has held the position for nearly ten months beyond his term.
Wednesday Wisdom
By Satish Misra
This conversation prompted the author to explore the internal dynamics of the BJP, noting a significant shift in the party's culture since Narendra Modi's rise to power. The author observes a decline in accessibility and openness among party leaders, replaced by a sense of fear and apprehension among members. The article critiques the current leadership duo, Modi and Shah, and highlights the complicity of the RSS in this transformation, raising questions about the future of the party and its internal democracy.

Yes, he was correct because many top and middle-ranking leaders of the BJP, when I speak to them though most of them avoid me these days which include many who have shared information about the party many a times in the past during my over three decades of reporting of the party. The change in their attitude and behavior was discernable right from 2015. Many of these leaders were play and sociable when we used to meet each other in the Central Hall of Parliament. Journalists’ access to the Central Hall was denied during COVID times and has not been restored since then. These play friends began to look over their shoulders while talking to me, indicating in no uncertain terms that ‘Big Brother’ was watching.  

Definite fear, deep apprehension, and feelings of suffocation and helplessness are some of the symptoms that come out despite their efforts to control their emotion.     

Here, at this point, I must inform my readers that I have a fairly good understanding of the ruling party and its mentor, Rashatriya Swyamsevak Sangh, in whose ecosystem the BJP has reached the zenith of power. My association with the BJP began way back in 1988 when I was working with Patriot at the country’s Fleet Street Bahadurshah Zafar Marg. I must clarify here that I found my Editor, Late R K Mishra’s, decision to change my beat to the BJP a shock to me as my political training and political thinking were against the saffron forces, particularly against ‘Hinduatva’ forces. Anyway, I accepted the transfer as a professional challenge. I went to the BJP headquarters with an open mind, telling myself I must not report with any biases or reservations.

Coming back to the issue which has triggered this column, the BJP, or should we say the Modi-Shah duo appear to have intensified the search for a new president to replace Nadda. The tenure of the BJP chief is for three years and the incumbent has been holding the chair since 2019 when he had replaced Amit Shah. Nadda has held two terms already, and he was given another extension to ensure “continuity” in the light of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. 

There has been a metamorphosis of the BJP from the party that I came to know and report way back in 1988 when it was struggling to identify issues for its expansion in legislative terms as it had only two MPs in the Lok Sabha then. The party’s top leaders were accessible and used to meet us journalists regularly, and their doors were open. I was impressed with their accommodative approach and readiness to listen to a contrary opinion. Internal democracy was thriving. It continued all those years till it was in opposition, though it changed a bit when the party came to power in 1996 and then in 1998 when some of its leaders became part of the government occupying ministerial positions.

Change was more because of the added responsibility that new positions required, but they met us and even shared vital information.

But to my bewilderment, change since Prime Minister Modi came to power and the then-party chief today’s Union Home Minister Amit Shah is radical. |Arrogance and conceit replacing affability, accessibility and openness. The BJP’s ruling duo, called derisively ‘Ranga Billa’ by many in the saffron party, is alone not responsible for the present state of sorry affairs as the RSS is equally responsible for it. Sangh has, for obvious reasons of comfort and reluctance to sternly oppose the mighty controlling levers of power, looked the other way instead of intervening.    

This is the source of concern and anguish of the ordinary cadres of the BJP. Historically, one who rises also falls. Let’s see what is in store and how long it will take.

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