Mumbai opportunity

Beyond sulks and rivalries,the national executive has offered BJP a chance to change the subject

Beyond sulks and rivalries,the national executive has offered BJP a chance to change the subject

It could be said that the national executive meet of the BJP in Mumbai was overpowered by the spectacular see-sawing of personal equations between its prominent leaders. There it was,all on show: Narendra Modi versus Sanjay Joshi. Modi vs Nitin Gadkari,B.S. Yeddyurappa vs L.K. Advani. Even,Advani vs Gadkari. Or,Sushma Swaraj vs Modi. Day 1 was only about Joshis resignation from the partys national executive,an olive branch from Gadkari to Modi. It was also about Modi deigning to make an appearance,but only after Joshis resignation was announced in public. On Day 2,the absence of Advani from a party rally,although known in advance,as well as of Swaraj,became a headline. Though separate explanations have been offered,the missing leaders were surely not unaware that the photo-op would be read primarily for their absence. So,at a time when the BJP should have been using the two-day get-together to aggressively package itself as an alternative to a self-destructing UPA,the news from the national executive seemed only to showcase its internal churn. But there is another way of looking at the BJPs outing in Mumbai.

This national executive may well turn out to be consequential for the party. For one,the end of Modis prolonged sulk if it holds could be crucial in an election year in Gujarat. It may also send out a larger message. Recently,the BJP has been drawing attention for its failure to stanch the crises in states where its powerful regional leaders have openly taken on the central leadership. Modi has topped this list,which also includes Yeddyurappa and Vasundhara Raje. Modis participation in Mumbai,after serial no-shows in the national executive in Delhi and the UP campaign,could begin to turn that story around. Then,a second term for Gadkari serves up a crucial signal of continuity. Admittedly,an extension for the controversy-riddled BJP president was not an act of choice for both the BJP and the RSS,it was seen to be a necessary compromise to avoid unsettling the organisation when a general election is only two years away. Yet,now that Gadkari stays on,after making his peace with Modi,there is an opening for the BJP to change the subject.

It remains to be seen whether or not the BJP can seize the Mumbai moment and extend it into an opportunity. Lately,the party has shown none of the agility and the sheer will to power that helped it to claw its way to centrestage in the 1990s. It must demonstrate that it is more than a party reduced to incoherence in the face of the refusal of the old order to fade gracefully or the personality cult of the new leader.