This refers to Aditi Phadnis’ column “Gadkari: second time lucky?” (Plain Politics, November 10). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has had a troubled bevy of top leadership after Atal Bihari Vajpayee faded away from active politics. Moreover, the party has been collectively courting trouble with unending ego clashes within itself.
Paradoxically, the big-ticket scams of the UPA-II government have brought the BJP greater trouble. The BJP was rightfully hoping that power would be virtually handed over to it by an inept Congress. But this had more than one BJP leader dreaming of being the next prime minister. The one-upmanship within the party intensified, and the BJP gravely erred in outsourcing the anti-corruption movement to sundry civil groups. In the process, it heavily diluted its prime role of the opposition. The BJP’s own indiscretions and the current allegations against Gadkari make it difficult for the party to quickly regain lost ground, and what is worse, it threatens to open the fault lines between the party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Given all this, a strengthened Modi could be the best bet for the BJP to recapture power in 2014. One disturbing thought is that the BJP could win the power, but lose the party, but then power is a very strong adhesive.
R Narayanan Ghaziabad
Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard
Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201
E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number