jan 19th
a stray comment by a friend made me think: why was the BJP/NDA so pusillanimous and ineffectual when in power?
the usual explanation is that they had been so used to being out of power that they didnt know what to do when inside.
also, it is true that the BJP in particular wanted to show everybody what nice guys they were, because of continuous media denigration and portrayal as some kind of monsters. also, they wanted to stay on in power and thought that the right way to do this was to drift leftwards.
but there is another reason: a high-level mole (not one of the visible long-term leaders but an invisible functionary) was in place, who successfully thwarted every feeble attempt to reduce the power of the 'secular' 'progressive' lobby and restore a semblance of balance.
think about it: a well-placed mole can wreak havoc with the best-laid plans. and did.
it's an exercise to the reader to figure out who this mole might have been. i have my suspicions but it is not prudent to name names these days.
10 comments:
Excellent point Rajeev. It should have been clear to any discerning observer. The unfortunate truth about Indian politics is the importance of a few individuals. It is easy for anyone to plant a mole in any organisation because of this tendency. Just get the chap to hang around the would-be-big individual. Soon enough, the chap would start dictating terms.
Perhaps, that is why BJP-RSS are talking about collective leadership these days. The other possibility is that BJP is realising its voters are getting disenchanted with the party. So this 'mole' idea is a good one to pass the blame and/or move on. I hope they move on, but they must understand that every day it is going to get more difficult for them to work the system that is getting more and more oppressive. In a few months, the President will change. Changing the EC, the Supreme Court, and the CVC would take 2-3 years. Once that is achieved, BJP will have little chance of a comeback.
Rajeev, It is a possibility that cannot be dismissed simply, but you could atleast list out events that lead you to this suspicion. As I said I would not discount such a possibility!
when rahul gandhi was caught in the u.s. immigration with trunk loads of money, brijesh krishnan lobbied very actively to secure his release.
a mole, what? who?
did i say brijesh krishnan? sorry about that.
http://intellibriefs.blogspot.com/2005/04/brajesh-mishra-congress-mole-in-nda.html
http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/may/02guest2.htm
http://www.alternet.org/story/12525/
sonia and brijesh mishra's role in enron scandal
What about thay guy who went with Advani to Pakistan?
i ain't naming no names. you are free to speculate
NDA lost because of a well co-ordinated and planned "conspiracy" by the media. This may sound cynical or paranoid but its true. Media titans ganged up to get NDA ousted.
Shekhar Gupta, of IE, has been quoted as having said that -"we will take care of BJP". The "we" stands for ?
Media is far more powerful than we think it is. It is my firm conviction that it was a media driven election and the NDA lost elections in Dehli studios.
One name that comes to my mind is Sudheendra Kulkarni. He was the one who went along with Advani to Pakistan.
My take on this issue is that Advani blabbering in Pakistan was not the sole reason he was kicked out by RSS, rather it was the last straw that broke the camel's back. This guy Kulkarni gave a speech immediately after BJP lost power in one on of RSS’s brain storming session in which he pontificated to RSS that they have to change their policies if they want come back to power. He pretty much said that RSS and what they stood for the last 80 years were wrong and cannot be achieved. Of course he did not say that in so many words, but he implied pretty much the same. This made the RSS supremo Shri Sudarshan fuming and walk out of that particular session. When this news reached Advani, he backed Kulkarni by saying that he has confidence in him.
On further research it was found that he was a commie and one was of the founding member of a NGO, by the way which is a for profit organization, along with Teesta Setalvand and another Musilm guy, I forgot his name.
When BJP was in power he was a secretary in the PMO, as a political appointee. Can you believe this, a card carrying career commie working in a BJP Prime Minister’s Office as a political appointee? No body knew for sure how this commie got so close to a BJP PM, Deputy PM and party president.
This finding and his proximity to the BJP’s top guys made RSS go berserk and kick out Advani from the presidency. This also led RSS to declare that BJP should better go back to basics and clean up their act or every body will face axe, not matter how big they are. To set an example, Advani who has a larger than life image was brought to his knees by Shri Sudarshan and kicked out of his party post. Shri Sudarshan personally took up this cause and went to Chennai last year, where BJP’s national executive was convened, and put pressure on him just by his presence. This forced Advani to announce his resignation in Chennai itself.
Let hope this RSS’s cleaning up activity weeds out all the eunuchs and bring back the original idealists.
Booklover,
I was not talking about TV debates and i entirely agree that they do not matter to the masses.
I come from Maharashtra and from a small town. I was there in India during the elections, and i could see the most aggressive campaign launched by the media against Vajpayee government. And i am talking of media, including local/vernacular media as well.
It was a domino effect. The theories propogated by NDTV,TOI,IE etc was quickly propogated to the masses by the local media and their lesser siblings in vernacular dailies. The masses may not be watching NDTV debates (which were stage-managed) but the editors of these local papers definitely do. In a way they were the local messengers.
I am not able to put it properly here but there was a definite campaign within the media to oust NDA.
I agree with Kaunteya, "pundit debates" do matter, particularly among middle class in urban and semi urban areas and that could well be the actual difference in the margin of victory.
Also BJP did make some mistakes in choosing allies. Inspite of them screwing up their base by doing nothing on their core ideology, if they have brought in just 3 people into their alliance they will be in power by now. They are Pawar, Mayawati and Paswan. This inspite of NDA getting wiped out in TN, Kerala and AP.
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