New Delhi, May 6: The BJP is in the throes of a new internal debate: does it pay to be “image-conscious” and risk losing votes or is it prudent to stick up for “tainted” members?
The debate has been sparked off by the Congress’s refusal — at least as of now — to dump controversial ministers Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Bansal.
BJP sources said they were “stunned” by the “brazenness” with which the Congress “pretended” it was business as usual in Parliament and seemed bent on passing Sonia Gandhi’s pet bills on land acquisition and food security.
So, as Lok Sabha Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj declared that she would not allow the passage of the bills unless Kumar and Bansal stepped down, other BJP leaders questioned the wisdom of recycling the “disruptive” tactics that fetched no dividends for the party in the last general election.
More so, as sources pointed out, since the land and food bills would directly affect the marginalised, and stalling them would allow the Congress to propagate the perception that the BJP was “anti-poor”.
Rajya Sabha deputy leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said he did not see a contradiction between the BJP’s demands for the ministers’ resignation and support (or lack of it) for the bills. “Does this mean that we do not hold the errant ministers accountable for their misdeeds?” he asked.
The discourse on “image consciousness” versus political expediency has come into focus because of the Karnataka polls and the projection that the BJP was being worsted by the Congress.
The BJP had lost no time in dumping B.S. Yeddyurappa once a Lokayukta report had named the then Karnataka chief minister in a land scam.
Most senior leaders were not persuaded by the argument that Yeddyurappa commanded 17 per cent captive Lingayat votes and his exit could dent the BJP’s base. He was seen as “dross” that ought to be thrown away if the BJP had to “shine like gold”.
Senior leaders, including Karnataka ministers, told L.K. Advani and Sushma that it was “imprudent” to let go of Yeddyurappa. But Advani and Sushma reportedly said Yeddyurappa’s continuance would hamper their national “fight” against the Congress’s “corruption”.
“Today, Yeddyurappa is hobnobbing with the Congress and ready to offer his support if the Congress is short of numbers,” said a Karnataka MP. “What did we gain by forcing him out?”
When Bangaru Laxman, a former BJP president, was eased out after he was caught on camera accepting money, the party had a hard time explaining the decision to its Dalit supporters.
Laxman is a Dalit and his anointment had been held up as an expression of the BJP’s “commitment” to the marginalised. Even today, the BJP’s Dalit leaders are furious with the decision-makers for “unfairly finishing off Laxman”.
Sources said instead of sounding “apoplectic” day after day on TV against the UPA’s “corruption”, the BJP should get down to sorting out its in-house issues, from naming a front desk leader to lead the 2014 campaign to working out caste equations.
As an example, they said, former Chandigarh MP Satpal Jain, a Sushma confidant, should be out on the streets fighting Bansal, the Lok Sabha member from the city, instead of becoming a “fixture” on TV and at media conferences.
