I think it is time for the BJP at the center to shake away their communal face. Though the party claims to be branded as communal because of their no-appeasement policy, they are not accepted in a progressing country like India.
In the Goa scene however, the party already has a progressive face. Mr. Parrikar has not shown any trace of communalism during his brief stint. On the contrary he drove Goa to being the country's No. 1 state with improved efficiency across all departments. The fact that the people of Goa refused efficiency and voted for turmoil is a different case study. The BJP should learn from his style of functioning and prove to be a contender to be the ruling party the next time round. Melvyn Ferrao, Agacaim-Goa On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 10:08 PM, Sandeep Heble <[email protected]>wrote: > The ‘Bhartiya Janata Party’, the Nation’s principal opposition Party, > faced yet another setback after it suffered a miserable defeat in all > the three States that had gone to the Assembly polls recently. The > Congress, despite its shoddy governance, won. So what exactly went > wrong for the BJP? > > The writing was clear on the wall during the last Parliamentary > elections when the BJP plummeted to its worst tally since its meteoric > rise about a decade back, but the bigwigs in the Party just refused to > read. While the BJP moved from one crisis to another, Advani, the > “Bhishma Pitamaha” of the Party, continued to hold sway to his throne, > unwilling to resign on moral considerations. So much for being a > politician with principles. Perhaps he will continue till the party > disintegrates. > > Come to think how - just a few years back - the situations were > reverse. The Congress were in the doldrums, caught in the bribery > scam, the Telecom scam, the Power scam and scam after scams. The BJP > thus became the next in thing, the “Fashion Statement” for the masses > but how the tides change. The “Party- with- the- difference” failed to > make a difference. On the one hand they gave the Nation riots, > regression and violence and on the other hand they launched the “India > Shining Campaign”. A cruel joke played on the Nation. Running with the > hares on the one end and hunting with the hounds on the other. What an > irony of sorts. > > Today, there is virtually a huge disconnect between the Youth and the > BJP. Searching for young faces in the BJP who can capture the > imaginations of the youth is akin to searching for a needle in a > haystack. Contrast that with the Congress today who can boast of a > plethora of youthful leaders. Young leaders like the Gandhi siblings > Rahul & Priyanka, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, > and so many others who are suave, dynamic articulate and intelligent, > who the youth can look up to but who do the BJP have? Rahul Mahajan > (yuck!)? > > While the World is surging ahead at a rapid pace, the BJP is still > caught in its “Hindutva” ideology, an ideology that wishes to drag > India back into the dark ages. Moreover, Hindutva for the BJP is > synonymous with upper caste dominance. Apart from giving the backward > leaders token representations in their party, the BJP has done > virtually nothing to bridge the divide between the upper and the lower > sections of the society. Little wonder then that the backwards hardly > vote for the party. > > The BJP’s interpretation of “Hindutva” too is skewed. For the party, > “Hindutva” is not about opening the temple doors to the backwards, it > is not about eliminating the caste divisions in the society, it is not > about giving the pride of place to the women in our society. > “Hindutva” to the BJP is all about banning Films and books, smashing > and vandalizing Art galleries, driving pioneer Artists like Hussain > into exile, banning supposed vulgar forms of music, opposing > minorities and their cultural practices, acting like the moral > policemen on anything and everything under the sun, the list will go > on. > > When Manmohan Singh spoke some time back how he was worried about the > crisis in the Opposition ranks, the BJP instead of acknowledging the > honorable Prime Minister’s noble gesture chose to snub him. The 3-0 > defeat should serve as an eye-opener to them. The party badly need > dynamic leaders who can deliver. Perhaps Manohar Parrikar at the top > will be a good choice. > > While the Congress talks about ‘IT’ and ‘Chandrayaan’, the BJP are > still talking about the “Rath yatras”. While the citizens want to talk > of ‘Bijli’, ‘Sadak’ and ‘Paani’, the BJP are still talking about > Advani. If the principal opposition party does not undergo a > fundamental change in its approach, a paradigm shift in its ideology, > even the “Phoenix” will rise from the ashes but not the Party. > > The choice before the Party is therefore pretty clear. Either it can > grow by re-inventing itself on modern secular liberal principles or it > must perish. There is no third alternative! > > Cheers > Sandeep >
