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The BJP's new clothes

That news may sound like the Holy Hymns to the BJP's partners in the National Democratic Alliance, but I am not sure if the others who chart the party's destiny are doing cartwheels in joy. Or, the allied organisations of the Sangh Parivar who believe in taking a course often at variance at what the BJP V2 says. The party, obviously, has not reckoned with reactions from its diehard voters - who have been lured by its hardline stance on various issues - as well as from the newcomers who have cast their lot, and their franchise, with the BJP despite its mosque-breaking tendencies only because it raised some critical issues.

What the Nagpur declaration has shown is that not only is the BJP no different from the party it replaced in power, it will, when it comes to the crunch, have no qualms in dropping any or all of its policies, programmes, principles, all in search of that elusive commodity called power.

The BJP realised long ago that its policies, while appealing to a section of the electorate, was not enough to take it past the victory post. A B Vajpayee may have seemed resplendent while stepping down after 13 days as prime minister in 1996, but to extend his tenure to 13 months he had to convince his party to drop 'contentious' issues.

With Delhi intact, the party's mandarins have had to do a quick think on how to save their chances in Uttar Pradesh where decimation could mean elimination from the political scene and a return to the long haul days all over again.

The funny thing with principles is that, once you have decided to chip away a little of it, the next time you decide to give up a little what comes off is quite a chunk. Thus, once the BJP decided to give up its 'contentious' issues, and become a little bit like what the Congress was, the next step, wooing Muslims, was very simple.

Hopefully, the community that has been cannon fodder to the Congress so far, will display more intelligence than the Hindus did before plumping for the BJP.

But the BJP's decision to woo Muslim raises questions more than it answers. Since it has now done a Congress, perhaps it should come out in the open and tell the voters categorically that there are no more 'contentious' issues: no more common civil code; no more Ayodhya; no more abolition of Article 370.

Luckily for the BJP, it is only a corporate entity which has made certain claims in its advertisement and has now reneged on these promises could be dragged to the Advertising Standards Council of India. A political party can do just about anything in its quest for power - and there is nothing a voter can do to ensure that the promises made in the manifesto are kept.

It is a Catch 22 situation. Any legislation that will make it incumbent on the parties to live up to their promise, will have to be passed by the very men who will be affected by it. It is rather like asking a condemned man to pull the trigger on himself.

The prime minister had recently stated that perceptions change depending on whether one was in power or in the opposition. While that was apropos the Bofors non-scandal, I am afraid we are going to see a lot of instances where the BJP will behave differently from its earlier, stated position, and it will try to wriggle out of the jam using this lamest of excuses.

The BJP, after having fought for and occupied the centrist space hitherto tenanted by the Congress party, has now turned its attention to taking over the Congress's diminishing space.

Since the BJP is so keen on outdoing the Congress, perhaps it should also consider admitting Sonia Gandhi, making her party president after Bangaru Laxman's tenure ends, and who knows, maybe even making her the prime minister. That way, there is no way anyone can question its commitment to secularism, or accuse it of running an anti-Christian campaign. Who knows, the BJP may even succeed in earning for itself the tag of being 'pseudo-secular'.

Saisuresh Sivaswamy