Open Forum
New Delhi, 19 August 2014
Bhagwat’s
Jibe
GOOD
LEADERSHIP CRITICAL
By Proloy
Bagchi
The recent statement of the chief of
much-maligned Right-wing Hindu organisation, Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS),
Mohan Bhagwat on the massive win of the Bharatiya Janata Party at the recent General
Elections was true but only partially so. After the BJP’s National Council meet
in New Delhi, Bhagwat
is reported to have stated that the victory at the hustings for the BJP was not
because of one man, as claimed by some, but because the people wanted a change.
Bhagwat went on to say that an
individual alone could not have ensured the Party’s victory unless people were
keen on a change. And asked why is it that the Party was not voted to power
when the same individuals and the Party existed earlier, too? The Party won
because the people desperately wanted a change.
This appears to be the
perspective of the chief of the supposedly parent organisation of BJP on the
majority obtained by the Party under the leadership of Narendra Modi. The
credit given to the voters to bring the BJP in power is unexceptionable. After
all, in a democracy there is no other power than “people’s power”, which can
throw away a dispensation and bring in a new one. It is the people who decide
on the basis of their experiences during the preceding tenure of a dispensation
to either retain it or to throw it out.
At the last elections,
people overwhelmingly decided to terminate the 10-year rule of Manmohan Singh
government and to bring in the only other available alternative in its place,
and they did so rather enthusiastically – so much so that the BJP recorded a
historic win and a simple majority in Parliament. This happened for the first
time in 30 years, terminating the era of largely ineffective and corrupt
coalition governments consequential on fractured mandates.
Nevertheless, one can go
with Bhagwat’s statement but only for a little distance as his utterance seems
to be loaded. It somewhat bears out the reports of an ‘internal’ feud between the
RSS and Modi. And, therefore, the RSS chief seemed to have attempted to run
Modi down and whittle down the latter’s achievement of winning for the first
time for BJP as many as 282 seats in the Lok Sabha – well above the half-way
mark of 272.
However, notwithstanding
his predilections, Bhagwat overlooked the fact that Modi was into his third
term as Gujarat Chief Minister when he campaigned for the Lok Sabha elections
having been anointed as the Party’s prime ministerial candidate – an unheard of
initiative in a parliamentary democracy – and eventually achieving a convincing
win. Other parties and other BJP leaders were in Gujarat
too, but he ensured successive wins for the BJP since 1995, first as an
election strategist and then as Chief Minister since 2002.
The BJP in the State
Assembly chose him for the Chief Minister’s position not once, not twice but
thrice. None, not even Bhagwat, can really detract from his achievements as a
strategist for winning elections for his party and then working tirelessly to
give Gujarat a new paradigm for development
taking it to a new level of growth and expansion as its Chief Minister.
True, the people wanted
change. They were sick of the UPA coalition government –its politicking, its
corruption and its policy paralysis. It ran from 2004-2009 largely on the
strength of the strong economy handed down to it by the former NDA government
of Atal Behari Vajpayee. With a chest full of cash, it got into extravagant
mode - sinking massive amounts in unproductive sectors that took it inevitably
towards the abyss of slackening growth, high fiscal deficit, mounting
inflation, absence of investments, both domestic and foreign and rise in
unemployment.
On top of all that,
regular reports surfaced of loot and plunder of astronomical amounts by its
ministers. The Prime Minister may have been honest but he was not effective in
ensuring honesty among his ministers and bureaucrats. He acted as a mere
figurehead, being led by the nose by the dowager of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty to
whom he seemed to have been inexplicably beholden.
With the media clamouring
for blood of the corrupt and the venal, the Government lapsed into a “policy
paralysis”, even as people were groaning under never-seen-before price rises of
all basic essentials. Nothing was attempted or done to alleviate their
sufferings. The people, therefore, were tired, angry and disgusted with the
ineffectual Government. No wonder, they wanted to see the back of it, and, that
too, quickly.
While people were
yearning for a break, the BJP leadership helped them by ingenious policy
changes to cash in on people’s wrath. In Modi they found an ideal party-man to
lead the electoral campaign. Having won several elections in Gujarat,
he had the knowledge and the experience to turn people’s ire and their
aspirations to the party’s advantage. His background as the creator of a new
Gujarat, which the prestigious Economist
called “India’s Guangdong” as far back
as in July 2011, helped.
Another master stroke of
the Party was to declare him as the Party’s prime ministerial candidate. Affecting
a break from the past, the Party pushed to the sidelines all the senior
stalwarts. It did have to face for a while a few long faces born out of
frustrations and disappointments, but the RSS proved to be an efficient midwife
in enabling acceptance of the drastic makeover of the Party’s leadership
profile.
Soon, Modi and other
leaders plunged into intensive campaigning. Traversing the length and breadth
of the country Modi set a blistering pace of travel and public speaking.
Discarding the communal card, he took on the opposition on two basic issues of
corruption and development, promising a strong government if given adequate
numbers. Regardless of distinctions of caste, creed and religion he sought
votes on the slogan of “sabka saath,
sabka vikas” (essentially meaning growth for all regardless of caste creed
and religion), a concept that stood Modi in good stead in Gujarat and was
described as a “great vision” by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Two other things helped.
A snide remark by Congress leader Mani Shankar Ayer about Modi’s humble origins
as a tea seller prompted a hugely successful campaign in tea shops across the
country with facilities of tele-conferencing, extending his reach to millions
in towns and villages. Then, induction of his trusted lieutenant, Amit Shah, an
indefatigable worker, helped in breaking the backs of the ruling parties in Uttar
Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar.
Obviously, the RSS chief,
thus, erred in crediting only the people for voting in favour of BJP. People
have always played a stellar role in elections. But, how their opinions are
swung in favour of a political party depends heavily on its leadership. In the
same elections the lack lustre and listless leadership of the more-than-a-century
old Congress plunged its seats-share in Parliament to an all-time low of 44,
depriving it even of the stature of main Opposition. Quality of leadership in
electoral politics, therefore, is of the essence. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)
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