NATIONAL POLITICS

Anil Saxena's Analysis of BJP's Manifesto, 1996

The Bharatiya Janata Party which sought to broad base its policies and programmes have, however, not risen above being a single-issue party with emphasis on Hindutva. The party has tried to project Hindutva plank as its USP (unique selling point). The undercurrent of Hindutva runs through the election manifesto.

The document contain the party's promises with regard to economy, administrative and judicial reforms, minorities, population policy, fiscal reforms and taxation, black money and corruption and foreign policy as already reported in this newspaper.

Barring its emphasis on Hindutva, a blanket decision to abrogate Article 370, disbanding of Minorities Commission, amendment of Article 30, which gives special status to minority institutions, and a total ban on cow slaughter, most other proposals and promises... are on the lines of the thinking of the present government.

Advani stated that under Mr. Vajpayee, whom the party was projecting as its prime ministerial nominee, the "BJP will affect the transition from swarajya to surajya with Hindutva or cultural nationalism being the rainbow. which will bridge our present to our glorious past and pave the way for an equally glorious future."

The BJP will retain its cutting edge, Hindutva, which gives the party its distinct ideological character. The manifesto states this unequivocally. It says: The BJP is committed to the concept of one nation, one people, one culture, and asserts that its nationalist vision is defined by the nation's ancient cultural heritage. From this belief flows our faith in cultural nationalism which is the core of Hindutva. That, we believe, is the identity of our ancient nation-Bharat Varsha.

The party reiterates its commitment to facilitate the construction of a magnificent Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya on coming to power as "this dream moves millions of people in our land, the concept of Ram lies at the core of their consciousness".

"Hindutva is a unifying principle which alone can preserve the unity of our nation. It is a collective endeavor to protect and re-energize the soul of India, to take us into the next millennium as a strong and prosperous nation. Hindutva is also the antidote to the shameful efforts of any section to benefit at the expense of others." The party holds the view that only by recognizing the limitless strength of cultural nationalism, can the nation be molded. The manifesto says: "When BJP joined the movement for the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya, it was to strengthen just these foundations".

The BJP will impose total ban on the slaughter of cows and cow progeny by amending Article 48 of the Constitution; it will provide tax exemption to the income of goshalas.

While for the Bangladeshi immigrants the party proposes to detect illegal immigrants, delete their names from voters' lists and arrange for their deportation without any further delay, for the Chakmas, who have fled the Chittagong hill tracts in Bangladesh in the face of persecution... the BJP is opposed to forced repatriation in the absence of foolproof security guarantees from the government of Bangladesh. It also proposes to provide citizenship to those Chakmas who do not want to return to Bangladesh and whose children were born in India.

The party will disband the Minorities Commission, which has only succeeded in feeding separatist sentiments and giving rise to imagined grievances, and entrust its responsibilities to the National Human Rights Commission.

It will abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution and adopt a Uniform Civil Code which will be applicable to every community.

(Source: The Times of India, 8 April, 1996)

BJP: List of Candidates the Time of India, 29 March, 1996

The list of candidates released by the BJP suggests that the party is walking the tightrope between being firm with the VHP, which has made the acceptance of its recently-declared Hindu agenda a pre-condition for support, and not altogether displeasing it.

On the one hand, it has denied tickets to sitting VHP MPs from Varanasi and Mathura, which is considered significant both in the context of the organization’s Hindu agenda and its campaign for the liberation (sic) of the Kashi and Mathura shrines. On the other hand, it has gone as far as deciding to field the wife of TADA detenu Brij Bhushan Saran Singh from Gonda only so as to appease the VHP. It was the threat of a revolt from the VHP which is said to have clinched the issue in his favor.

The BJP's objective in allotting Mathura and Varanasi to non-VHP candidates was obviously to tell the world that the two shrines were not on its immediate agenda. While that had to be done, if only to convey that it was serious about coming to power, it is anybody's guess how the votaries of Hindu nationalism will react to the kid-glove treatment given to someone who has been held under TADA for harboring Dawood Ibrahim's henchmen. (Since it) won the Maharashtra election by making Ibrahim a symbol of anti-nationalism.