In response to Kulkarni here is what his classmate and an ardent admirer of Vajpayee Sri Anil Chawla has to say:
Dear friend,
Namaskar,
Sudheendra Kulkarni, who currently works as an aide to Mr. LK Advani,
is an old friend. In 1975, both of us joined IIT Bombay for B.Tech. A
couple of days back Sudheendra wrote an article "Hindu Divided
Family", which you may read at
http://www.tehelka. com/story_ main42.asp? filename= Ne130609hindu_ divided.asp .
Sudheendra's article has drawn considerable attention in media. I am
replying to Sudheendra in an open letter discussing the role of Mr.
Advani in BJP and also the defeat of BJP in recent elections.
The enclosed open letter to Sudheendra is about 2000 words. Please
read it and send me your comments.
With Best Wishes and Regards,
Anil Chawla
____________ _________ _________ _________ _______
Dear Sudheendra,
I have just read your "deeply introspective essay" on tehelka.com
about BJP's defeat in recent elections. The article is described as
introspective, but I failed to find anything that could be called
introspection by any stretch of imagination. True, you say that "I too
carry my share of responsibility" , but that is more courteous than
introspective.
All through the essay, you look upon BJP as a patient lying on an
operating table and your role as that of an outsider trying to see all
that has gone wrong. The patient is being blamed for all that has gone
wrong, without in any way blaming either the virus or the team of
doctors who have brought the patient to the present critical state.
Please pardon me for being direct and on the face. I guess as a former
classmate I can take this freedom. I campaigned for Janata Party in
1977 elections. Ever since then I have been in and around the party
(JP/BJP) working at various levels. Sure enough, I have not been an
aide to Mr. LK Advani (LK) like you have been. Both of us began
dabbling in public life together at IIT Bombay. I have spent more than
three decades in close proximity with BJP and RSS without ever being
offered a post. I am not alone. There are thousands like me who have
served in their own humble way. What has always surprised me is that
someone like you who was a committed fulltime communist for almost two
decades, suddenly did an ideological somersault and landed up straight
in the top rungs of BJP. When you are in mood for some introspection,
please do think about this. Probably, the roots to the present malaise
in BJP can be traced to your own personal journey.
When a communist suddenly becomes an ideologue for a party like BJP,
there is bound to be skepticism and even some ridicule. It becomes
imperative on the neo-convert to prove that there has been a genuine
transformation of the soul and not just a change of coat. Even if the
neo-convert does manage to prove his credentials, there is no way that
he should ever be allowed to rule over the heads of people who have
devoted their life to the cause. In your case, (a) you have never
proved that you have really changed and (b) you actually landed up on
top of the ranks in a manner that is most inexplicable. I say that you
have not been able to prove your credentials because I have read some
of your articles and I can say with a fair level of confidence that
you remain at heart a communist who is trying to put on the camouflage
of a Hindu.
Dear Sudheendra, I have nothing against you personally. Your
appointment as National Executive member of BJP, at the time of your
joining BJP, and later as Prime Minister's key aide had pleased me
enormously. One always likes to see old friends in positions of power.
The problem is that your case is not an isolated one, but a
representative one. There are many in Delhi and Mumbai who have been
able to gain access to LK's coterie by hook or by crook and it is
these who now rule over BJP.
When you analyze BJP and RSS with a cold surgeon like approach, you
ignore the role that LK's family and coterie has come to play in the
party. Elections of 2009 were not fought by BJP against Congress, but
were reduced by LK and his gang to a war by LK against one and all.
The party has been systematically hijacked and decimated over the past
decade and a half by LK's coterie. You just need to look at the
campaign material prepared by the party for the recent elections.
There is only one face â LK's. Even Atal ji was not considered worthy
of being put on the hoardings and posters. Congress gained mileage
from photographs of Gandhi and Nehru decades after their deaths.
Communists continue to revere Lenin and Stalin till today. Contrast
this with the way LK and his war team dumped Atal ji most
discourteously even though he is alive and continues to be revered by
millions in the country.
You say that the BJP leadership is in disarray. If it is true, the
only person who is responsible for the mess in the party is LK and no
one else. He has ruled over the party with an iron hand for more than
two decades. In fact, the words "Majboot Neta" (Strong Leader) that
were used to describe LK during the recent election, apply only in
respect of the way LK behaves in the matter of crushing his critics
and opponents within the party. He is ruthless in demolishing anyone
who as much as raises an eyebrow against him. He has no patience for
anyone who even dreams of being his equal within the party. Can you
please name for me two people who are LK's equals within BJP, in LK's
vision? LK's desire to stand as a tallest leader made him choose only
pygmies for all critical positions in the party. The only way that one
could rise up in BJP with LK at helm was to act as a subservient
spineless dwarf.
The problem with dwarfs is that while they are very good for boosting
one's ego, they have limited use when one faces a war-like situation.
In the recent elections, LK decided to fight it all alone. LK and his
family and coterie thought that their rag-tag army of laptop
professionals could substitute for the well-oiled and tested machinery
of BJP, ABVP and RSS. The irony is that the blame for the defeat is
now being put on the doors of the organizations that were treated most
shabbily when LK and his team were dreaming of victory. LK and his
team are now complaining that no one from BJP top leadership stood up
to defend him when he was under attack. The fact is that among BJP
leadership, the ones who command any stature were always ignored,
attacked and pushed to the sideline by LK and his gang. So when LK
came under attack he looked around for support and found none. Of
course, there were many rats who were raising their feeble voices in
his support. Unfortunately, the voices of rats do not count. This is
something that LK should have thought before he appointed rats in all
the key positions.
You talk about the party's social base. Did LK do anything in this
regard during the past five years? The answer is an emphatic NO. When
LK did his last `yatra' before 2004 elections, a photograph of his
starting point was circulated. It showed LK standing with his daughter
and wife. There were no BJP leaders on the dais. LK defended the
presence of his family by saying that he drew strength from them. This
is the root of the problem. In the past decade or so, LK stopped
drawing strength from the party or Sangh parivar, and started leaning
on his personal family ignoring the larger family to which small
humble persons like me belong and from where we draw our strength. LK
saw the party and Sangh pariwar as a tool to achieve his personal
ambition at all costs. In the past decade, LK's focus was on building
his personal image, his family strengths, his mafia-like grip on the
party. The thought of getting or building leaders who command or could
potentially command respect in various social groups seems to have
been far removed from LK's mind.
I attended the function at Bhopal of LK's unveiling of his
autobiography in Hindi. What an unabashed projection by a person who
has no achievements worth mentioning even in one paragraph! Future
historians will mention LK as a classic example of a person who had
illusions of grandeur. They will write that he was a manipulator who
was ruthless to independent thought within his party and rose by
methods that ruined the party. Having said that they would probably
add - he saw films and wrote two eminently forgettable
autobiographies. What else is there to mention about LK's lifetime
achievements? Are there any articles / books written by him on
social-political issues? At least I am not aware of any. He is a
self-centered person who cannot see beyond himself and his interests.
If he puts pen on paper it is to describe his own self because that is
all that he can ever see. If he talks about Hinduism / Hindutwa or any
political ideology or national issues, it sounds hollow because he has
never applied his mind to anything except his own interests, his
family, his career, his ambitions, his dreams etc.
You might respond by saying that all politicians today are like that.
You would probably be right on that. But then they know that they are
run-of-the-mill politicians with no illusions of being grand strong
leaders. If LK had realized his own limitations, he would not have
tried to fashion 2009 elections as an exercise to elect him as the
prime minister. The worst thing that happened in 2004 and 2009
elections is that the BJP, under the influence of LK, did not use the
elections as an exercise to take party's ideology forward. In days of
Jansangh, when it used to be absolutely clear that there was no
possibility of winning, the party would still fight. In those days, it
used to be clear that fighting an election was an opportunity to
propagate our ideology and thoughts to a bigger audience. In the 2009
election, the campaign was focused only on the persona of LK ignoring
even the party's manifesto.
As an old hand of the broad ideological historical process that I call
as Hindu nationalistic movement, I have no serious regrets about BJP
losing 2004 or 2009 elections. But I do regret that the party which
was making an attempt in its initial years to define a new vision for
Ekatm Manavwad (translated by me as Monistic Humanism) lost way. I
regret that instead of focusing on issues and ideas the party focused
on an individual. I regret that the party for whom thousands shed
blood and lives became a tool in the hands of some who want to live a
seven-star lifestyle. I regret that personal ambitions and aspirations
of one man became the focus of many organizations that are known for
the sacrifices of their leaders.
Dear Sudheendra, I agree with you wholeheartedly when you say, "The
BJP can indeed bounce back. But it can do so only if it first renews
and empowers itself comprehensively â in its ideology, its
geographical- social spread, its own political strength, its mass
activity, its alliance-building, its cadre-based organizational
network, and its leadership". The difference is in approach. While you
would like to probably do it with LK and his cronies at the helm, I
shall like Sangh pariwar to put the dark days of LK and his cronies
behind.
Sangh leadership must act to decisively purge BJP of LK and his
individual-centered style of working. Competence and not loyalty to
this or that individual must be the criterion for all appointments.
Ideology must take centre-stage once again and those who can help with
defining and clarifying ideological issues should be in key positions
and not sycophants or moneybags.
I am making this letter public because I think that the issues that
are discussed here are very important and need a wider debate. Of
course, I know that this will put me at the risk of harsh retaliatory
action by LK and his coterie. I guess that I have to take this risk in
wider national interest. I hope I can count on you as an old friend if
the action turns nasty.
With Best Wishes and Regards,
Anil Chawla
--
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--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo--> Sudheendra Kulkarni, who is also a close aide of Advani, while giving an insight into the factors behind BJP's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections cited confusion about Hindutva, failure to overcome the party's limited social base, negativism in its campaign and a leadership in disarray.