With Rajnath Singh supporting Feroze Varun Gandhi and, therefore, all his rather scary utterances, and stating that he will go and campaign for the young aspirant, the Bharatiya Janata Party has established its position vis-à-vis Indian Muslims, Sikhs and other non-Hindus. For a national party to silently endorse a possibly sinful oath is taking humanity back to the days of uncivilized politics when an eye for an eye and an ear for an ear was the war cry of revenge. To see a supposed national party stand by a bagful of false beliefs in the present age of information technology and globalization makes one shudder with fear and sadness. What a waste of energy in a country haunted by poverty and lawlessness, corruption and unjust politics that defy and fight against the essence of pluralism.

Will the majority of the Hindus tolerate and condone this rhetoric and the accompanying acts that contravene the laws of this land? Will they, the majority, join a political dispensation that holds such preposterous positions and unbending beliefs that will, most certainly, kill the soul of India? Often it is an unthinking, wild desperation that manifests itself in such acts and speeches, a personal desperation to grab power at all costs. An ascent to power propelled by rabid speeches of this kind is usually fraught with superficialities and results in an equally sudden downfall. The BJP appears to be ‘using’ Varun Gandhi, maybe because he is a Gandhi. Perhaps his party needs a representative of the ‘first family’ of Indian politics within its fragmented fold to assert its national appeal and to enable it to compete with the Congress. Otherwise, why should the party leadership go out of its way to endorse Varun Gandhi, thus alienating some of its critical allies?

Central pie

India remains a conservative, semi-feudal culture and it will take some more decades and a clear generational shift in politics and society for the democratization of her multi-faceted cultural traditions, her resilient, ancient philosophies and therefore, of the majority mindset, to take place. Respect for diversity, differences and debate will have to override the scheming, wheeling, dealing and more that we have been witness to over the last few decades. All through the last week we have had to hear non-stop repeats of the diatribe of Feroze Varun Gandhi, whom the press insists on calling by his middle name. Then, a few days days ago, that frightening image was juxtaposed with one of Rahul Gandhi, who was calm and collected, engaging with the press on issues that need correction and action. A different tenor, a different endeavour, a different goal. Forcing a polarization, the BJP and Varun Gandhi may well compel the country to make some hard choices. Some will win on the Hindu plank, others will fall by the wayside and Bharat will go through some severe contractions before the birth of a modern civil society. This may well be our trial by fire!

The government is virtually a ‘caretaker’ till the results are declared. If the Congress reaches the 150 mark, chances are that the opportunist bees will race to the hive with their numbers and there could be a radical change of partners in the course of the jig. If the Congress drops its count, the single largest vote-getter, Mayavati or Jayalalithaa or anyone else, will cobble together an ‘united’ collective with all others carrying their ‘numbers’ and jockeying to grab a bit of the Central pie. Real, constructive alliances have not been intrinsic to Indian coalitions. The selfish, divisive ‘alliances’ that have been plaguing India are over for now. The gross horse-trading will resume on the evening of May 16, when votes will be counted. The alliances that will survive till then are those that are mutually beneficial to the partners in the political play.