04-27-2008, 10:10 PM
http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/assertio...nderdog-18.html
Assertion of the underdog
Priya Sahgal and Aditi Pai
April 24, 2008
The emergence of backward leaders like Kalyan, Katiyar, Narendra Modi, and Uma Bharati was the result of a social engineering formula crafted by former party ideologue K.N. Govindacharya. For a while the idea of breaking the high-caste barrier had been playing on the leadershipâs imagination.
Today, Narendra Modi is the only one who retains his clout and he has never played the caste card. Bharati blames the male-dominated Delhi leadership for her exit. Other grassroots leaders like Babulal Marandi in Jharkhand, Dilip Singh Judeo in Chhattisgarh, B.S. Koshiyari in Uttarakhand are complaining of being sidelined by the central leadership.
Like Bharati, Marandi quit the party after he was overlooked in favour of Arjun Munda, a Venkiah Naidu loyalist, for chief ministership in 2005.
Bharati too was made to give up chief ministership and has since been replaced by lightweight (though OBC) leaders who enjoy patronage of the centre. Another popular chief minister Vasundhara Raje has been saddled with her bete noire as party chief.
It is arguable whether Om Mathur, an RSS pracharak, has been sent to help her or to keep her in check. Even in the recent Rajya Sabha elections, the party nominated as many as five Brahmins even though only one had retired. Few of these are vote gatherers.
The party has not bothered to cultivate leadership amongst many dominant castes in north India. In Punjab, it depends on the Akalis.
In Haryana, Kishan Sangwan, the only Jat leader it has, is an export from the Indian National Lok Dal. In Uttar Pradesh not only is it losing its upper caste base but is making little attempt to reach out to the others.
The urban, upper class face of the party is the one that dominates the central leadership in Delhi. Careful to avoid such a charge, the party has gone in for cosmetic surgery and accommodated the right amount of OBC, ST and SC leaders at the party office.
But they are kept out of the decision-making process. Very few of these grassroots leaders have a say either at the party office or at Advaniâs residence.
Let alone BJP, even the Sangh hierarchy is dominated by Maharashtrian brahmins. Most of the second rung leadership sits in the Rajya Sabha. Nowhere is the lack of a strong mass-based leadership more visible than in the Lok Sabha. Advani has no choice but to lead from the front.
Hardly surprising that he has now asked all the GenNext leaders to contest the next Lok Sabha elections. Each is now scouring the countryside for a âsafeâ seat.
At last, as the party gets ready for E-2009, it is realising the importance of leaders with mass base, even if they come from the wrong caste.
So a Yeddyurappa has become a potential chief minister, a Bharati may stage a dramatic homecoming, a Sushil Modi can drop an upper caste from the Cabinet and continue to be the deputy chief minister, and Munde canât be taken for granted.
Even in a party like BJP, every underdog has his day.
Assertion of the underdog
Priya Sahgal and Aditi Pai
April 24, 2008
The emergence of backward leaders like Kalyan, Katiyar, Narendra Modi, and Uma Bharati was the result of a social engineering formula crafted by former party ideologue K.N. Govindacharya. For a while the idea of breaking the high-caste barrier had been playing on the leadershipâs imagination.
Today, Narendra Modi is the only one who retains his clout and he has never played the caste card. Bharati blames the male-dominated Delhi leadership for her exit. Other grassroots leaders like Babulal Marandi in Jharkhand, Dilip Singh Judeo in Chhattisgarh, B.S. Koshiyari in Uttarakhand are complaining of being sidelined by the central leadership.
Like Bharati, Marandi quit the party after he was overlooked in favour of Arjun Munda, a Venkiah Naidu loyalist, for chief ministership in 2005.
Bharati too was made to give up chief ministership and has since been replaced by lightweight (though OBC) leaders who enjoy patronage of the centre. Another popular chief minister Vasundhara Raje has been saddled with her bete noire as party chief.
It is arguable whether Om Mathur, an RSS pracharak, has been sent to help her or to keep her in check. Even in the recent Rajya Sabha elections, the party nominated as many as five Brahmins even though only one had retired. Few of these are vote gatherers.
The party has not bothered to cultivate leadership amongst many dominant castes in north India. In Punjab, it depends on the Akalis.
In Haryana, Kishan Sangwan, the only Jat leader it has, is an export from the Indian National Lok Dal. In Uttar Pradesh not only is it losing its upper caste base but is making little attempt to reach out to the others.
The urban, upper class face of the party is the one that dominates the central leadership in Delhi. Careful to avoid such a charge, the party has gone in for cosmetic surgery and accommodated the right amount of OBC, ST and SC leaders at the party office.
But they are kept out of the decision-making process. Very few of these grassroots leaders have a say either at the party office or at Advaniâs residence.
Let alone BJP, even the Sangh hierarchy is dominated by Maharashtrian brahmins. Most of the second rung leadership sits in the Rajya Sabha. Nowhere is the lack of a strong mass-based leadership more visible than in the Lok Sabha. Advani has no choice but to lead from the front.
Hardly surprising that he has now asked all the GenNext leaders to contest the next Lok Sabha elections. Each is now scouring the countryside for a âsafeâ seat.
At last, as the party gets ready for E-2009, it is realising the importance of leaders with mass base, even if they come from the wrong caste.
So a Yeddyurappa has become a potential chief minister, a Bharati may stage a dramatic homecoming, a Sushil Modi can drop an upper caste from the Cabinet and continue to be the deputy chief minister, and Munde canât be taken for granted.
Even in a party like BJP, every underdog has his day.