(Dr Pentapati Pullarao)
Political parties like empires grow and perish. Dynasties thrive and then collapse. The Mughals ruled India for 200 years. The last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Zafar Shah died in Burma in 1862. Yet, today, we cannot even locate a single heir of the Mughals. Time is very cruel and erases all memories. Many political parties across the world thrive and then die. No one expected the Russian communist party, which started ruling Russia from 1922, would end in 1991.
The BJP is very much aware of history and wants to ensure that it lasts for some time. The BJP has been expanding and knows that it must grow to survive and innovate all the time. The companies which made cameras vanished because they never expected the cell phone. The BJP knows that it must constantly change or it will perish. The 5-state elections have shown that BJP has a great style of election campaigns. So successful has the BJP election campaigns been that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to say that the BJP is there not only to win elections, but also to connect all the people in India.
1. The BJP has charismatic and popular Narendra Modi as its leader. But the BJP is also projecting other leaders like Amit Shah, BJP President Nadda, Ministers Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and many others to canvass during the recent 5-States election. The other political parties did not involve a wide spectrum of leaders. The Congress Party only had Rahul Gandhi and Priyanaka Vadra canvassing and no other senior Congress leader was even invited.
2. The BJP wants a new younger leadership ready. Earlier, the BJP depended on Atal Behari Vajapyee and L.K. Advani. But after losing the 2004 and 2009 parliament election, the public rejected them and there was no new leadership. Obviously, the present BJP wants to create a new cadre of leaders. That is why young leaders like Tejesvi Surya & Smriti Irani and others are being projected.
3. The BJP is also relying less on dynastic candidates. In the BJP, there are dynasties like Pramod Mahajan, Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje , Karnataka chief minister Yeddyurappa, etc. But the present BJP leadership is not encouraging them. Obviously, there is a refusal to encourage dynasties.
4. The BJP is bringing marginalized communities into the party. Earlier, the BJP was known for its upper caste leaders. But now, BJP deliberately reaches out to marginalized communities .Telengana and Andhra Pradesh are good examples of this plan. In West Bengal, BJP has reached out Sch. Caste Matua community, Tribals and OBCs. In Bengal, the BJP is the party of the poor and lower castes, while the Congress, Left parties and Mamata Banerjee are the parties of the Upper castes !
5. The BJP is also showing flexibility in economic and social policies. While the BJP says that it is for ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas ‘development for all “, the BJP rushed to use popular schemes like NREGA, Direct Cash to farmers, etc to win over people. The BJP is adapting itself very fast to political needs. As the great Chinese leader Deng Hsioping said 40 years ago, “It does not matter whether a cat is white or black, as long as it catches mice “.
6. The BJP is retiring leaders who are had enjoyed long time in power. This is creating space for new entrants. The BJP also invites popular leaders from other parties. In fact, the BJP won in Maharahstra, Haryana, Karnataka and Assam only because of this policy. Even today, the BJP is gaining in Bengal and Telengana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh due to this policy.
Dangers of over-centralization:
There is also the danger that the BJP may develop the “culture of the High Command”, like the Congress and Left parties. Over-centralization does not allow regional leaders to grow. The popular leader of Madhya Pradesh chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan grew and hence he could dominate Madhya Pradesh politics. Hence, the BJP should ensure that “High Command “culture will not ruin local leadership. So the BJP has to find the right mix of control and freedom for its leaders.
The BJP is undertaking a great experiment of creating new and young leaders. Other political parties did not plan for the future. When Nehru was prime Minister, the question used to be “After Nehru, who? There was never any answer. The BJP seems to be aware that soon there must be a new leadership. Or the carefully built BJP fort will become like Golconda fort. Golconda Fort is great history. But only ruins today.
(Dr Pullarao is a Delhi based political commentator and noted economist)