Ironically, the BJP's boastful claim about becoming the 'first party in the land' coincided with an electoral drubbing in Kerala....

...By demonstrating that nothing much has changed in electoral terms in the last few months, the results gave an indication of how difficult it is to become a 'first party' and may have made some of the BJP leaders wonder whether, just as the Kerala verdict is not strictly relevant to the BJP's current status at the national level, the euphoria in the cow belt may not also give the correct picture.

...The Kerala result... has at least shown that the BJP has been unable to expand its base despite the manner in which it struts about the political stage at the moment.

...The Left Democratic Front's setback in 1989 was entirely in keeping with the normal trend of election results...

What could have happened between November 1989 and January 1991 to persuade voters to turn to it all over again?.. If anything, it was the fall of Mr. V.P. Singh's Government as a result of the complications created by Mr. L.K. Advani's Rathayatra that was the most important event of those 14 months. And... voters in Kerala were clearly not impressed....

...The Leftists are among the most committed of the BJP's adversaries, having realised that polarization... that has taken place leaves no scope for any tentative alliance as in the past....

...Even the man who rode into the medieval age with such fanfare in his chariot is conscious of the damage this may have inflicted on the organization....

...Mr. Advani (has said) that the Muslim view of the BJP continues to disturb him and that he has, therefore, called upon the three State governments under his party to be alive to their responsibilities so far as communal riots are concerned. This must be the first time that a political party has had to reassure a section of Indians that they have nothing to fear from it.... More damaging... is its lack of credibility.... caused by the constant switches in its stand.

The most glaring of these examples is its insistence that the Babari Masjid would not be demolished, but merely shifted, although it must know that the ancient structure cannot but be damaged... The reason, however, why the BJP is denying any intention of breaking down the mosque is patent enough.... The party must have known all along that its crude championing of the Hindu causes is bound to repel sensitive people... But the element of prevarication is obvious... as it is in Mr. Advani's advice... in Jaipur that the more offensive slogans should be left to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad...

The BJP's ambiguity about the fate of the mosque is only a small part of its campaign of disinformation. The most bare-faced of all it the claim that the Rathayatra, or the speeches by its two well-known Amazons, did not provoke communal riots. Instead, the party suggested without a shred of evidence that Pakistani agents were involved... It will take much more than Mr. Advani's sage advice to the BJP led State Governments to make the minorities feel safe.

There have been other instances, of course, of the party's two faced stand, such as the insistence that the temple issue had now become a matter of belief and sentiment which could not be affected by legal or archaeological opinions. While placing itself above the law of the land, the BJP has also called upon the police to revolt in Ayodhya and showered praise on the Provincial Armed Constabulary....

The value of the Kerala outcome may lie in making the BJP act with a greater sense of responsibility, although its endless play with words and concepts will continue...

To be 'the first party', the BJP will have to dispense with this kind of double talk, which is an evident outcome of... confusion... The BJP will probably like to be... free of ideological doubts and of the constraints involved in having to win Hindu votes while reassuring the Muslims about safety, but so far it has spread more darkness than light by trying to ride too many horses at the same time...."

(Source: The Statesman, New Delhi, 15 February, 1991)

OPINION

Muslims are a strange lot. They seek remedy from those who have caused the disease; they go on talking to those who are in occupation of the Masjid and go on announcing their intention to demolish it and to construct a temple in its place. Babari Masjid has long been converted into a temple. Now the temple is located in an old structure & they want to build a new structure. Then what is to be done by the Muslims! They only want the Muslims to say: we admit that Babar had constructed the mosque after demolishing a Mandir.

Now you go ahead and build a temple after demolishing the Masjid, we have no objection and only to get the Muslims to say these few words, they are giving such a good beating that corpses have been piled on corpses and human habitats have been turned into wilderness... Instead of judicial process, they are forcing the demand on the Muslims through violence and terror. This is not the language of Dharma but of power!

Ahmad Said Malihabadi

Editorial Azad Hind Daily, Calcutta, 16 January, 1991