Tuesday, January 16, 2018

tip up for future fane

Note: fane in archaic English means temple. This is in some sense "part2" of previous post

16 May 2014 : A day when many of the 35+ "RW" activists' belief got shattered - in a pleasant way. Many of us had deep within felt, in our lifetime we will not see a RW party like BJP winning on its own - it is going to be either a Congress led coalition, or a BJP led, limited by allies coalition..

By noon that day, it was clear - history was being made, notions were being rewritten.. I had taken leave that day, at home switching my eyes between TV and internet to get the latest.. When it became clear that it was a comfortable majority on its own, and a thumping one for NDA, I was emotionally overwhelmed.. Spoke to my friend in US with whom I had done many of my activism over there .. His almost immediate reaction was "Tu iske chakkar me mat pad..." ... (Do not get swept away by this) ... He continued ... "Our responsibility and work has only increased.. Govt or not, we have work to do..." .. I would not claim that I put his words into practice, but I can say, he had it spot on..

Flashback further: 2004 general elections.. I was in US .. It was sleeping time by the time counting started, but then work up the next day for a shock.. Vajpayee had lost .. I have in some of my previous posts analyzed this one, so dont want to repeat it.. but two quick points (a) BJP's tally went from 182 to 138 (24% reduction), and its allies nosedived from about 90 seats to 47 or so - almost 50%
(b) While in power, BJP had no strong Party Presidents (Khushabhau Thakre, Bangaru Lakshman, Jana Krishnamurthy and Venkaiah Naidu -- none of whom had great organizational capabilities )

On both the above counts, 2019 is different from 2004 .. Amit Shah continues to aim at a big number on its own, and he has been to nook and corner of this country, to get even that single seat that he can swing his way, to compensate for possible losses due to anti-incumbency.. I could see the effect in NE

Yet, there is the other major factor -- "disenchantment" among BJP supporters/Sangh itself.. In many ways, this group was disappointed in 2004 .. India's not at all convincing reply to the IC-814 hijack episode, the increase in Haj subsidy (which earned PM the name "Haj"payee among sangh circles), Vajpayee's perceived ill health (his pause between words had become really long), and no progress on the original core issues of BJP - Ayodhya, UCC and Article 370 .. Now, at a not-so-deep level, let me quickly categorize those who would have voted for BJP in 2014 -- a) hard-core supporters, come what may they will vote BJP (as long as no major messups).. b) issue based BJP supporters c) BJP supporters (even internet activists), normally lazy to vote, but 2014 saw them vote d) disenchanted congress/other-party voters  e) no real political inclination, but vote based on aspirations/hopes


In some ways, people have started comparing 2019 to 2004 -- there has been an increased feeling that "Hindu issues" have not been addressed enough... temples have not been freed from governments, whip has not been cracked enough on "conversionists" etc .. I think the feeling is more in the b or c category (though, I must admit, in reality it is not as black and white). I do not mean to criticize these folks, they do have a "right to complain", but at the same time, more often than not, they seem to look at the governments achievements (or the lack of it) through only 1 or 2 issues.. Just imagine for a second, this is a country of 125 crore.. with such diversity and complexity.. there is NO WAY you can satisfy one and all.. The Indian PMs job, if sincerely executed, is one of the toughest jobs on earth... And yet, in my opinion (and NOT as a passive onlooker, but having had my eyes, ears and brains closely glued to Indian politics for 28 years now), I will confidently say that this has been the best government so far in 30 years .. Could it have been better ? May be, but don't kill "good" for "ideal"

In many cases, for example when an otherwise pro-BJP person becomes disenchanted, say on twitter, many of the comments will be along the lines of "think of the alternate.. you want to bring Congress back to power ?" .. While I totally agree that such a situation will throw India back by yet another 10 years (the damage caused because of which will take years to repair), I will also say that TINA (There is No other good alternative) is not the only reason that Modi should be elected back in 2019.. On many many counts, it is "swayameva mrugendrataa" for this govt - deserves on its merit ..



Though I am no one really to do so, I have a little piece of advise for the pro-Hindu writers and activists -- I know that on many issues you feel govt did not do what it could, especially core Hindu issues.. and it is all fair to have brought those up for the last 3-4 years in a spirit of constructive criticism .. but perhaps, for the next one year, I would advise caution -- there will be many young generation folks, new voters, getting active within the next year or so ..  a criticism on a particular issue, if not understood in the proper context, can easily misguide them.. So why not, for the next one year, help the govt highlight its real achievements (publicly) and point out deficiencies (privately)

To those twitter activists who are still "disenchanted", I would say, take a break, go do some seva work - may be go help some poor children - look at their faces and think "What should I do, so that they have a bright future ?" .. and I sincerely believe you will find your answer and next steps...








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