Two parties only

Endorsing President Abdul Kalam’s call for evolving a two-party system in India, the Organiser’s editorial states, “India has two distinct ideological poles...

Endorsing President Abdul Kalam’s call for evolving a two-party system in India, the Organiser’s editorial states, “India has two distinct ideological poles, represented by the BJP and the Congress. The parties attached to these poles have a broad agreement on ideological format. But there are unattached regional formations who can tilt the balance either way. In about 200 Lok Sabha seats neither the Congress nor the BJP has a presence.”

While admitting that “balancing regional aspirations with national agenda is a hard task,” it says, “But the NDA and the UPA experiments have provided a relative level of stability, cementing two power blocs.” The NDA was more successful because of “the strong ideological moorings represented by the BJP.”

Pointing out that the Indian polity has progressed from single-party domination to multi-party system to a bipolar one, the editorial predicts “in the long run this could shape into a two-party system”.

Artists beware

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Fully backing the arrest of art student Chandramohan for his “objectionable” paintings at an internal exhibition at the MS University at Vadodara, columnist Sandhya Jain says the university authorities “need to explain to the nation the nature of the course content taught at the university and the calibre of the faculty.”

In her article entitled ‘Iconoclasm is not art’, Jain says such an explanation is necessary “because art is first and foremost about understanding the meaning of the symbols of religion and culture. This involves deep immersion in the culture and philosophy of the tradition one is studying. An art college would teach students about such symbols and their meaning and usage in all world cultures, and would also teach them not to mix or impose symbols from one culture upon another.”

Asserting that the Vadodara incident “raises serious questions about modern India’s human and academic resources,” Jain goes on to say, “Far from showing any sensitivity and shame for the controversy, the art students, no doubt instigated by a section of the faculty, staged a dharna like trade union activists and ranted about ‘freedom.’ I am at a loss to understand how such culturally impoverished and morally bankrupt young men and women could be enrolled in an art programme in the first place.”

RSS and Maya

An article by retired IFS officer O.P. Gupta on the UP results gives credit to the Sangh Parivar for the BSP’s victory: “The message of social harmony among Hindu Samaj so assiduously being promoted by the Hindu religious leaders… Mayawati, by her foresight and tenacity to keep close to ever evolving ground realities became the first political leader to take advantage of this new wind of Hindu samarasta. A Brahmin or an upper-caste Hindu no more feels reluctant or embarrassed to work under a Dalit leader which, in turn, is the direct result of this samarasta movement unleashed over the last few years by the RSS and VHP.”

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Gupta says the BJP’s agenda in the 1990s (against Article 370 and Bangladeshi infiltrators and for a Uniform Civil Code and Ram mandir) had “pan-Hindu politico-emotional appeal” which propelled it to power. “No tangible progress on any point of this agenda during the six long years of the NDA rule set disappointment among traditional supporters of BJP.”

Pointing out that the BJP cannot cash the Ram Mandir cheque again and again, he advises the party to work out an agenda “which should be political-economic in nature and should have similar pan-Hindu appeal across the caste lines, across the linguistic and provincial barriers.”

Compiled by Manini Chatterjee