Hindustan Times
Nitin Gadkari has emerged as the most likely person to replace Rajnath Singh as the next BJP president. His name started doing the rounds soon after the RSS Sarsangchalak Mohan Bhagwat had indicated it to Arnab Goswami in a Times Now talk show that none of the four prominent second generation leaders — Sushma Swaraj, Venkaih Naidu, Anant Kumar and Arun Jaitley — were likely to be succeed Rajnath. Read more
(6 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
Loading ...Posted by Pankaj Vohra on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Filed under New Delhi · Tagged BJP, BJP's new leader, Gadkari, Nitin Gadkari, RSS
The happenings in Karnataka where a legitimately elected chief minister is being sought to be replaced by someone else from his own party at the behest of money bags is a reflection of the power tussle within the Saffron Brigade. Read more
(3 votes, average: 2 out of 5) Loading ...Posted by Pankaj Vohra on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Filed under india · Tagged BJP, Hindustan Times, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, rajasthan, saffron bridge
The recent developments within the BJP are perhaps first pointers to a split in a party started in 1980 by members of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh with the blessings of the RSS. The party came into existence in the aftermath of the failed experiment of the Janata Party. The aim was once again to consolidate forces of hindutva.
However, as the party stands today, it has moved away from its basic ideology and a number of BJP leaders while squabbling over party posts share the opinion that the party should adopt a softer approach. In other words, the hindutva agenda goes for a six.
But somehow, the BJP without commitment to the hindutva does not seem to be acceptable to the RSS. Therefore, in a clash that is going to take place during the next few weeks, the BJP could ether end splitting or may have to finally choose the RSS line. In other words many of the top functionaries if they do not relent may find themselves marginalized as the BJP without the support of the RSS is a party which will not get support of its traditional voters.
I have been watching with great amusement the power struggle warming up in the Saffron party which has been under the stranglehold of either Atal Behari Vajpayee (now ailing) or L.K.Advani for neartly 40 years if one also takes into account the Jana Sangh years.
In the first 15 years of its existence, the Jana Sangh had 10 presidents, some of whom after disillusionment even joined the Congress. But since 1968 in the aftermath of the death of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya under mysterious circumstances, the party has had basically two main controllers, Vajpayee or Advani or their proxies with a brief period of two years in the early nineties when Murali Manohar Joshi was the party chief.
Past Jana Sangh president and one of the founders of the Jana Sangh, Balraj Madhok attributes dilution of the hindutva agenda to the way the BJP was run by Vajpayee and Advani.
The latest round of fight is within the coterie of Advani over succession and not because those who are fighting have any love lost for ideology. As a matter of fact, those who are fighting have similar views about hindutva and want the hindu card diluted. This is something which the RSS may not allow as long as the BJP is aligned with it.
The problem is that the BJP has always presented the negative aspects of hindutva before the people in the past and never the positive sides. It is like you can play Holi with mud and with Gulal but the BJP has chosen to play it with mud, the Gujarat riots were an example. It has never tried to project Swami Vivekanand or Sri Aurobindo’s thoughts in a concerted manner.
The most crucial test for the survival of the BJP in its present form may come during the meeting of its National executive on June 20. The RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is going to be in delhi and may watch the developments keenly. The BJP stands at cross roads today and if it does not fall in line with the RSS, the BJP maybe headed for a split. But who knows?
(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5) Loading ...Posted by Pankaj Vohra on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Filed under Capital Closeup, india · Tagged Bharatiya Jana Sangh, BJP, hindutva, ideologies, LK Advani, RSS, Saffron party
The election results in Delhi have clearly demonstrated that the BJP has lost its traditional middle class support base for the time being and the Congress has been the beneficiary of this changeover. How long this courtship will last will largely depend on how the Central government functions in the next five years.
The middle classes it appears have been swayed towards the Congress essentially Read more
(4 votes, average: 3.75 out of 5) Loading ...Posted by Pankaj Vohra on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged BJP, Congress, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Elections 2009, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, the Saffron Brigade, Urban swing
