Political psychologist Ashis Nandy said the BJP does not have enough competent people in its ranks and does not want to take the risk of depending on people from outside the party to fill top institutional posts.
In an interview with Firstpost, Nandy said that RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan's decision not to seek another term was an example of trust deficit by the BJP government.
"The BJP doesn't have enough intellectuals or competent people in its ranks. Yet, they don't want to take the risk of depending on someone from outside the party. This is a problem for them. They don't trust anyone outside the party ranks. Rajan is the latest example of this trust deficit. Subramanian Swamy merely articulated what others have been saying behind Rajan's back for a very long time," he said.
Referring to some other appointments made by the National Democratic Alliance government, he said the importance of these institutions had been lost on the BJP.
"Take for example, the recent appointment of former BJP MP and cricketer Chetan Chauhan to the post of chairperson of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT). He doesn't know anything about the subject, neither do most people in India. So, the government thinks it is safe to appoint Chauhan in such a position.
"Consider then the appointments of Gajendra Chauhan as the chairperson of Pune's Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), then Pahlaj Nihalani as the Censor Board of Film Certification chief. Nihalani is more BJP than BJP members, even though he is not a member of the party. The importance of these institutions is totally lost on the BJP. What matters to them is the money. What matters to them is the post," he said.
Asked if the recent events at JNU had triggered a much-needed discourse on nationalism, Nandy said: "Nationalism is not capable of triggering an intellectual discourse because all nationalisms are the same. I think Rabindranath Tagore said the last word on nationalism."
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Asked about Tagore's fate if he was to write about his idea of nationalism in contemporary India, Nandy said he would have been jailed.
"And there would have been a justification from Smriti Irani, saying that the government had set up an expert committee which has found Tagore to be anti-national," he said.
--IANS
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