The frank truth expressed by Mr Advani and Jaswant Singh should be taken positively as a constructive criticism of the BJP party. leadership. With the RSS taking the role of playing a positive role in the party, they foisted Mr Nitin Gadkari as the party President. With the possible tussle for leadership among the younger lot and the advancing age of Mr Advani, the RSS decided to take charge. But in doing so, they possibly confused the ability to manage based on his business acumen as against leading the party. He has proved to make several poor judgments of people and the State parties have assumed very strong positions which he has not been able to control with a heavy hand.and some BJP ruled States have not brought any credit to the party. In fact, the ground realities in these States does not auger well for the next elections in 2014. By foisting Gadkari for a second term matters have become worse. It is unfair to attribute Mr Advani's criticisms as coming from one who has taken it as personal affront. He has readily assumed a role of being a mentor rather than a candidate for PMship. Mr Jaswant Singh who is normally more reticent was expelled and taken back for his speaking the truth.bluntly.
Let us analyse what ails the party. Maybe Mr Advani has accepted the roles of Ms Sushma Swaraj and Mr Jaitley as good orators who made their presence felt in both the Houses. Winning a point in a debate is not enough as an opposition leader. But to participate in a discussion/debate and make their points relevant to bring about an effective change in any Bill has been totally absent. Some seeming contradictions in the positions of their parties on major issues has made it apparent that more often than not, they have no positive inputs and only lead the other members of the party to obstruct and not allow the Houses to function. In an attempt to win some regional parties to the NDA at the next elections, they have taken stands to appease some of them and abandon their own stated policies on several issues that affect national interest. They have resorted to take on some personal attacks more seriously instead of trying to rectify the mistakes, if any. The party is therefore seen as one which has no clear policy on economic matters or defence or foreign matters which are key issues to evolve a national consensus. Their obstructive policy has caused a loss of confidence by the world at large on whether our country can face the serious situation in the world economy. The difficulties faced by the present Govt due to the pressures of a coalition, can equally affect them if they come back to power with the help of these regional parties some of whom have no clear policy other than building their own personal cult.
To give a few examples, the introduction of GST was very much a NDA proposal . Maybe there are differences of perception on some issues, but they need to be settled by consensus in national interest and not opposed for the sake of doing so. The Bill to allow petroleum prices to be based on market forces and not on Govt administered prices was the NDA's Bill. But they oppose every increase related to increase in world crude prices. The States governed by their own party have the highest local taxes with mismanagement of their own finances. The NDA also had stated policies on FDI on retail, insurance etc but instead of arriving at a consensual Bill, to please one State Govt leader, they have given up their stated policy.
The warnings that Shri Advani and Mr Jaswant Singhis have made should be taken seriously and the party has to been seen as one that doesnt only score brownie points in debate by mere opposition to any thing that the Govt proposes and avoid discussion and debate but evolve a bipartisan solution in matters that affect the nation's economic destiny. If they fail to do this, they will be stuck with a very bad economic disastrous position and they will be unable if they come into power and solve these problems with some logical solutions. At the present, the party's position is weakened in Karnataka, maybe even in Gujarat and they have lost Uttarakand and Chattisgarh may follow. They cannot run a NDA Govt purposefully with the support of the AIDMK in T.N and TMC in West Bengal alone.
The party should develop a strong think tank on such matters and take credit by having their opinions taken by the Govt in any Bill and establish their credibility to govern on their own at the next elections. They should aim to have a strong position in numbers and get a common policy statement for the Govt to be accepted by every party of the coalition. The party has two years to build its position to that of strength. Can they do it?
Let us analyse what ails the party. Maybe Mr Advani has accepted the roles of Ms Sushma Swaraj and Mr Jaitley as good orators who made their presence felt in both the Houses. Winning a point in a debate is not enough as an opposition leader. But to participate in a discussion/debate and make their points relevant to bring about an effective change in any Bill has been totally absent. Some seeming contradictions in the positions of their parties on major issues has made it apparent that more often than not, they have no positive inputs and only lead the other members of the party to obstruct and not allow the Houses to function. In an attempt to win some regional parties to the NDA at the next elections, they have taken stands to appease some of them and abandon their own stated policies on several issues that affect national interest. They have resorted to take on some personal attacks more seriously instead of trying to rectify the mistakes, if any. The party is therefore seen as one which has no clear policy on economic matters or defence or foreign matters which are key issues to evolve a national consensus. Their obstructive policy has caused a loss of confidence by the world at large on whether our country can face the serious situation in the world economy. The difficulties faced by the present Govt due to the pressures of a coalition, can equally affect them if they come back to power with the help of these regional parties some of whom have no clear policy other than building their own personal cult.
To give a few examples, the introduction of GST was very much a NDA proposal . Maybe there are differences of perception on some issues, but they need to be settled by consensus in national interest and not opposed for the sake of doing so. The Bill to allow petroleum prices to be based on market forces and not on Govt administered prices was the NDA's Bill. But they oppose every increase related to increase in world crude prices. The States governed by their own party have the highest local taxes with mismanagement of their own finances. The NDA also had stated policies on FDI on retail, insurance etc but instead of arriving at a consensual Bill, to please one State Govt leader, they have given up their stated policy.
The warnings that Shri Advani and Mr Jaswant Singhis have made should be taken seriously and the party has to been seen as one that doesnt only score brownie points in debate by mere opposition to any thing that the Govt proposes and avoid discussion and debate but evolve a bipartisan solution in matters that affect the nation's economic destiny. If they fail to do this, they will be stuck with a very bad economic disastrous position and they will be unable if they come into power and solve these problems with some logical solutions. At the present, the party's position is weakened in Karnataka, maybe even in Gujarat and they have lost Uttarakand and Chattisgarh may follow. They cannot run a NDA Govt purposefully with the support of the AIDMK in T.N and TMC in West Bengal alone.
The party should develop a strong think tank on such matters and take credit by having their opinions taken by the Govt in any Bill and establish their credibility to govern on their own at the next elections. They should aim to have a strong position in numbers and get a common policy statement for the Govt to be accepted by every party of the coalition. The party has two years to build its position to that of strength. Can they do it?
