The Hindu Business Line : A lesson for BJP and Congress

The BJP has not been able to do a Gujarat in Himachal Pradesh. In this, there is as much a lesson for the BJP as for the Congress(I), which has been pushing the soft Hindutva pedal, says Rasheeda Bhagat, looking at the set of just-concluded As sembly elections.

In Himachal Pradesh, a win handed in by the anti-incumbency factor.

THE one image which stands out from the run up to the elections to the Himachal Pradesh Assemblyis that of a triumphant Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, wearing the colourful Himachal headgear campaigning in Shimla and elsewhere. He, and the BJP high command, thought that the Gujarat magic, of a resurgent Hindutva, would work in this hill State too. Also, that henceforth, Mr Modi's should be a mandatory appearance in any election held in any corner of the country.

But to the BJP's great discomforiture, the people of Himachal Pradesh thought there were other important issues than one's religious identity to reckon with while voting in a government. And, hence, in the predominantly Hindu State, where a whopping 95 per cent of the populace is literate, far above the national average, Moditva did not work. Nor did the voltage campaign on such issues as cow slaughter and Ayodhya. Obviously, there was dissatisfaction among the people with the BJP Government of Prem Kumar Dhumal. The silent majority thought that issues related to their day-to-day life, like roti, kapada aur makan, education, health-care and such "ordinary" issues the common man has to tackle day in and day out, were more important than the Sangh Parivar's brand of Hindutva.

Hence, out went the BJP and in came the Congress(I), with a whopping 40 seats out of the 65 for which elections were held in a House of 68, falling a little short of a two-third majority. Of course, along with the anti-incumbency factor, what helped the Congress even more was the dissidence and infighting within the State unit of the BJP, with as many as 17 rebels, said to have the blessings of the Union Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, fighting against the official BJP candidates. An irony, because hitherto the Congress(I) was the front runner in such aspects as dissidence, internal bickering and coterie rule.

This is indeed a major political setback for a "resurgent" BJP that is flexing its muscles and preparing the ground in the Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi to win them when they go to polls this November. Its one big hope was to ride the Moditva-Hindutva wave and snatch these States from the Congress(I). But now having miserably failed to even retain one of the few States it has, and forced to watch it go to the Congress(I) fold was ignominy indeed.

But then such is the rough and tumble and, above all, the uncertainties in the world of politics. So, the BJP has been humbled, but this victory should hardly be any cause for the Congress leaders to thump their chests as they have been doing in the last couple of days. It was not flattering to see the Congress(I) president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, emerging quickly from 10 Janpath to berate the BJP and claim credit for the Himachal Pradesh victory.

Where was she when the Congress(I) put up such a miserable performance in the Gujarat elections, after she had personally spearheaded the campaign there? Why did it take three long days for the sullen party chief to emerge from the shadows and mumble something about "the politics of hate" giving the BJP rich dividends in Gujarat? A true leader is one who is there right at the front, and before public gaze, in good times and bad, taking flak as much as credit. But the Sonia Gandhi we saw in the immediate aftermath of the Congress debacle in Gujarat fell far short of Indira Gandhi.

Also, Ms Sonia Gandhi has a lot of introspection to do before she crows about the Congress victory in Himachal Pradesh. Surely it is not for the love for the Congress and its ways that the people of Himachal Pradesh voted for her party? It is the negative vote of a distressed people; somethingthat happens when the pendulum swings wildly from one end to another. Tamil Nadu is an excellent example of this phenomenon, where its people have voted out the DMK and the AIADMK with a vengeance and in quick succession the last few elections.

Of course, Gujarat was another story altogether. And, will continue to remain a blot on our secular fabric, because that was one election which was indeed won by polarising the people along communal lines, whipping up religious passions and sowing the seeds of hatred in the minds and hearts of the two main communities.

If today the anti-incumbency factor has gone in the Congress favour, then tomorrow the boot will be on the other leg. The party boss and her senior leaders who are today exulting over making the BJP bite the dust in Himachal Pradesh, may very soon be up against this very factor in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.

It will be a foolish party leadership that will not read a lesson in the outcome of this poll. What the Congress foolishly started in Gujarat and continues to follow in Madhya Pradesh — walking the road of Hindutva, first of the soft variety in Gujarat and now the hard version in MP — may not take it anywhere. Let it not forget that the BJP can play this game much better than it.

It is indeed a shame to see an able administrator like the MP chief minister Mr Digvijay Singh, who should have been quietly confident about his comparably decent governance in the State, particularly at the grassroots, joining the ranks of the BJP's rabble rousers such as Mr Modi and the fiery sanyasin Ms Uma Bharati, now the BJP State unit chief. For Mr Digvijay Sing to go around out-shouting the BJP on the need to ban cow slaughter, is pitiful, if not ludicrous. The man who was once thought fit to head the Congress(I) is now batting as the BJP's B team!

But if he is really the smart cookie one thought he is, he should quickly learn a lesson from the BJP's debacle in Himachal Pradesh and focus his energies on the task of providing good governance to his people, and refrain from antics on the cow front.

The Indian electorate has proved yet again that, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, Hindu, Christian or Muslim, it can shake off all the shackles and, punish the politicians who take them for a ride, exploiting their vulnerability and helplessness.

As for the Congress(I), it has other lessons to learn too. Long ago, the BJP reconciled itself to the virtues of coalition government. Had it not done so, it would not have been ruling at the Centre the last two terms. Through arrogance and sullen behaviour and people like the Samajwadi Party chief, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, not supporting Ms Sonia Gandhi's candidature for prime minister in 1999, it lost out a huge opportunity in Uttar Pradesh. Had the Congress struck an alliance with the SP and some of the other smaller components in Uttar Pradesh before the elections, it could have been sitting in a coalition in the UP.

Of course, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav would have been the Chief Minister, but for the Congress the satisfaction of seeing the BJP in the Opposition benches would have been reward enough. The present set of elections has not been roses all the way for the Congress. It has been routed by the Left Front in Tripura. In Nagaland though it has emerged the largest single party, its Chief Minister Mr S. C. Jamir was not able to hold the party together and now his former colleague and Home Minister, Mr Neiphiu Rio, is the Chief-Minister-in-waiting. His party, the NPF (Nagaland People's Front) got 15 seats against the Congress-I's 21. He has been the main force behind the formation of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN), a conglomerate of four parties, which has 29 seats of the total of 60. On Tuesday, with the National Democratic Movement, which has four MLAs, promising it support, DAN is all set to wrest Nagaland out of the Congress hold. But in Meghalaya, the Congress is set to form the government with the help of smaller parties. D. D. Lapang of the Congress, who has been elected leader of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, a conglomerate of the Congress, three smaller parties and Independents, has been invited by the Governor to form the government.

So, though Himachal Pradesh has been a triumph for the Congress(I), it would do well to refrain from pulling out the victory bugle yet. Its moment of victory, if it comes at all, is still far away, in November.

As for the BJP, the equity market has spoilt its Budget party, and Himachal has put an end to its Gujarat triumph.

Response can be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Funding infrastructure

Populism with a human face

Promising but not progressive enough to reach targets

A lesson for BJP and Congress

Soft Hindutva

Pitfalls of new consumerism

Budget

Tax concession to cricketers

I-T deduction