Baba on fast, BJP getting hunger pangs

The sight of Sushma Swaraj, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and many others from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dancing at Rajghat has offended even sympathisers of the party. Quite apart from being distasteful — dancing on Gandhiji’s grave, as it were — it was also misplaced. What exactly did the BJP leaders and workers feel so triumphant about?

That some cunning plan of theirs had worked? That Baba Ramdev, by getting thrown out of Delhi after much midnight drama, was now going to emerge a martyr? And even if he did turn into a hero, how exactly does it benefit the BJP?
So overwhelmed was the BJP by these events that its leaders not only danced, but also indulged in some bizarre hyperbole. The lathicharge at the Ramlila Grounds was reminiscent of the Emergency, they said. This was soon turned up a notch — it was another Jallianwala Bagh massacre, said the party’s statement. Both descriptions are not only wrong, they are also in bad taste. To compare a lathicharge to the brutal killing of helpless men, women and children with bullets in an enclosed park by a colonial government shows the depths to which politicians will sink to gain some political mileage.
But back to the basic question: How does all this actually help the BJP? No one who has been watching the developments of the last few days will have missed the Sangh Parivar’s connection with the Baba and his campaign. Always known to be close to the large Sangh family, Baba has vast properties in BJP-ruled states. But when Sadhvi Rithambara came and sat with him on the platform, all doubts were removed. Some of the Baba’s strategists are known Sangh Parivar champions and were batting for him on television, while his campaign against black money bears close resemblance to a so-called “paper” produced by Sangh-aligned “intellectuals” which had accused United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi of parking illicit funds abroad and for which Lal Krishna Advani had to apologise.
The BJP’s hyperventilation over the summary removal of Baba Ramdev from Delhi limits, must, therefore, be seen in that light — it is extending support to one of its own. However, far from being elated, the BJP should be worried. The BJP is not just another party; it has ruled the country. It has leaders with vast amounts of political and parliamentary experience. It rules in several states and hopes to get back to power in Delhi soon. Given that UPA-2 is fumbling on several fronts, the BJP should be brimming with enthusiasm, energy and ideas to push the government into defensive mode and start planning for a regime change. Instead, we see the country’s leading Opposition party hitching itself to the bandwagon of a yoga guru with zero political experience, some fairly weird ideas and dubious financial sources. There are scores, if not hundreds, of such swamis, gurus and babas all over the country with reactionary views and no one but their followers take them seriously. Baba Ramdev operates on a much bigger scale and has morphed into a strong brand, but surely even the BJP knows that such things are ephemeral. Besides, there is a good chance that many of the Baba’s followers are BJP supporters anyway, so the Baba’s plans to set up a political party could split that vote. So why this enthusiasm for the Baba?
Over the decades, the BJP and the larger Sangh Parivar have always looked around for respectable leaders with mass appeal who can be a good “mukhota” (mask). Jayaprakash Narayan and V.P. Singh are two such examples; both were professed secularists but both were anti-Congress. Their mass credibility was perfect for the Sangh Parivar, which has always been aware that its own ideology has limited appeal. Jayaprakash Narayan helped cobble together the Janata Party, and, V.P. Singh with outside Right and Left support, put together a government. Both these experiments failed but the BJP came out much stronger.
Times have now changed. There is no one in the Opposition of the stature of either Jayaprakash Narayan or V.P. Singh. With the retirement of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the BJP, too, is bereft of anyone with mass appeal. The party has not been able to mount any credible attack on the government and the loss in the 2009 elections has completely demoralised it. The Sangh Parivar is now looking at the future; they may not invest in Baba Ramdev beyond a point, but he will, at the very best, serve a temporary purpose of taking on the government, or even — so the more fanciful believe — topple it. Tentative approaches were made to join with social activist Anna Hazare, but when he realised such an association could backfire, he distanced himself.
Such reliance on extra-political entities can only be harmful to a legitimate political party like the BJP. Its leaders need to be introspecting about the implications of handing over centrestage to mavericks like Baba Ramdev. Instead, the BJP ought to be sharpening its weapons to take on the government which is at its most vulnerable, what with allegations of financial scams swirling around. But practising hard politics can be difficult and frustrating. Better just to jump into a ready-made tamasha and hope that some of the spotlight falls upon you, too.