The BJP and Team Anna have received a major setback due to the recent developments, showing that they are neither an alternative to the ruling establishment nor can they cleanse the system.
If former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s arrest in a corruption case has punctured the anti-corruption campaign of the main Opposition, the division in Team Anna on whether to take part in elections against a political party (the Congress) and support to the separatist forces in Kashmir has shown the limitations of Mr Anna Hazare’s team once again.
Besides, the RSS’s reiteration that it has been very much part of Mr Anna Hazare’s movement has also put a question mark on its secular credentials.
The BJP used to give a slogan of change in “chaal, chehra aur charitra” of the party. But its top officials and ministers were found involved in corruption cases when it was in power at the Centre.
On the other hand, Gujarat started losing its socio-political identity ever since the BJP-RSS made it a Hindutva laboratory.
The BJP cannot launch a campaign against corruption as long as its state governments become free from corruption.
If it talks of corruption at the Centre, the Congress will draw attention to the corruption in BJP-ruled Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
The BJP cannot be an alternative to the Congress at the Centre because of its narrow ideological mindset. That is the reason why it always looks for someone like Jayaprakash Narayan and others to lead an anti-Congress campaign, feel Congress insiders, hinting that one should understand why the RSS is backing Mr Anna Hazare. The BJP has never won any election on a positive agenda, they said.
On Mr Hazare’s decision to go on “maun vrat (vow of silence)” from Sunday, a Congress official said: “Why should we talk if they (Anna) are not talking.” “There is no need to comment. But people can ask if it (silence) will also apply to other members of Team Anna,” Mr Abhishek Singhvi said.