LK Advani Speech

This is the full-text of the speech made by BJP’s Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha LK Advani at the party’s National Executive meet on June 21.

President Shri Rajnath Singh ji, office-bearers of the Party, and dear members of the National Executive,

We are meeting for the first time since the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha. At the outset, I would like to congratulate all the 116 newly elected Members of the Lok Sabha, exactly 58 of whom are first time members. I also congratulate the newly elected office bearers in the BJP Parliamentary Party - Smt. Sushma Swaraj, deputy leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha; Shri Arun Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha; Shri S S Ahluwalia, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha; and Chief Whips in the two Houses.

I take this opportunity to sincerely thank all those who worked tirelessly for the Party’s election campaign, at the central, state and constituency levels. Loyal soldiers of the BJP, they once again displayed remarkable commitment, dedication and devotion ― qualities for which our karyakartas are known and admired.

All of us are naturally disappointed at the outcome of the parliamentary elections, which was not as per our expectations. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) got a renewed, and enlarged, mandate. Our tally has come down from what it was in 2004 ― from 138 to 116.

Broadbased review of poll results necessary

There has been much discussion in the National Executive on why we failed to win the people’s mandate. Many colleagues have made their observations and given their analyses. The purpose of this review is not to apportion blame but to get an objective understanding of what went wrong and, more importantly, how to emerge stronger by correcting those mistakes.  I am extremely happy that the discussion yesterday was very frank and forthright.

As a Party proud to be having the highest level of internal democracy, it should be our endeavour to make this exercise as broadbased as possible. It should enable karyakartas and supporters at all levels to freely express their views and sentiments. They should feel that their voice is heard and taken seriously. This is important for maintaining the motivation of our cadres and supporters, and for further strengthening their bonds with the Party.

Therefore, our colleagues and workers should feel that there is an internal mechanism within the Party where one’s views, including critical views, are taken seriously by those in responsible positions and are then used for implementing corrective steps. The only constraint on the participants in this exercise, which is an important part of the BJP’s culture of discipline, is that they should not air their critical views in public.

Three areas that require serious attention

Broadly speaking, corrective action is needed in the following three areas:
It is a matter of concern that our Party seems to be plateauing in some states, which are our strongholds, and have actually suffered big reversals in some others. Additionally, there are several big states where our political base continues to be small, and our electoral presence is narrower still. These weaknesses have to be overcome.

The state of the Party organization at all levels, including at the Centre, needs to be improved. We have to strengthen unity in thought, unity in planning and unity in execution in leadership tiers at the Centre and in states.

The Party has to urgently evolve a system of encouraging younger leaders at all levels. We have a lot of young talent within the Party. But I have heard many young activists tell me that they are not given opportunity to serve the Party more effectively. It is sad that a certain “train compartment” mentality has got developed within the Party, which makes those in leadership positions to ignore promising, talented and committed cadres who are standing “outside” and waiting for the door to open. This has to change. We must identify, train, groom and empower third, fourth and fifth generation of leaders in the BJP. Our leadership planning should take into account the Party’s needs for the next twenty years.

Poll outcome is a setback, but certainly not ‘a rout’

Friends, while it is natural for all of us to be disappointed by the outcome of the elections, it is necessary that we neither let this feeling of disappointment turn into despair nor lose a sense of proportion and balance in assessing the voters’ support for the BJP.

A section of the media has described the people’s verdict as a “rout” for the BJP. It is nothing of the kind. We have won 116 seats in the 15th Lok Sabha, which is much more than what the Congress had won in 1999. In as many as 113 other constituencies, our candidates came second. In 45 of these constituencies, the margin of defeat was less than 10% of the votes cast.  In 25 of these the margin was less than 5%.

Without belittling the setback we have received, I must also point out that it is nothing in comparison to what we have suffered in the past. If the word “rout” could be validly used, it was in 1980 and 1984. In the 1980 parliamentary elections, which were held after the collapse of the Janata Party government, the Janata Party’s tally came crashing down from 295 (the Jana Sangh segment was 97 or so) in 1977 to 31, of which the Jana Sangh component was just 18. In the 1984 polls, which were held after the assassination of Smt. Indira Gandhi, the BJP could win only 2 seats in the whole country.

We did not lose heart in 1980 and 1984. Therefore, where is the question of the BJP becoming despondent today, when we have 116 MPs in the Lok Sabha, Unlike in the 14th Lok Sabha, when the Left was on the one hand a proactive partner in Government, but not being accountable or answerable for failures of Government, most of the time they could play the role of the opposition also.

I first came to Parliament in 1970, as a Member of the Rajya Sabha.  That was a time when Marxist members used to exude immense confidence.  Some of them, even used to echo the boast of British imperialists, that a day would certainly come when the sun shall not set on the Marxist ‘empire’.  All developing countries of the world, including India, are particularly vulnerable to the appeal of Marxism; the Jana Sangh has no future, they would affirm.

And see what has happened to Marxist parties the world over.  Wiped off the surface of the globe - with remnants left behind only in Cuba, Kerala, and Calcutta !  And in India while in an election which we ourselves concede is a surprising set back for us, we get 116 seats, they score just 16 !

Our prejudiced critics will deliberately exaggerate the BJP’s weaknesses. But we should know our strengths. With 116 MPs in the Lok Sabha, 47 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, and eight states in which our Party is in government, the BJP is by no means an inconsiderable force in Indian politics. If anything, by decimating the Third and Fourth Fronts, the recent elections have concretized the BJP as the only alternative to the Congress.

I am pointing this out just to underscore an important aspect of the people’s verdict in May 2009. Theirs is a vote for stability insofar as the Congress party’s strength has been considerably enhanced so that it does not any longer need the crutches of the Left Front. But theirs is also a vote for bipolarity insofar as the voters have strongly endorsed the BJP as the sole anti-Congress opposition pole at the Centre.

Big new opportunity for the BJP

When anyone asks me as to what is the most significant contribution of the BJP to Indian politics, my reply is: for the first four decades of India’s independence, the country’s politics was dominated by one single party - the Congress; in the last two decades, the BJP has succeeded in transforming this single-dominant-party polity into a bipolar polity.

To achieve this, since the days of our party’s launching by Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerji as Jana Sangh, the party’s leadership has been exerting to end the Congress Party’s hegemony in Indian politics.  Our initiatives in alliance politics and coalition governments started in the early fifties in Punjab when we had a SAD-JS Government in the State under the leadership of Justice Gurnam Singh.  Later, we made a major contribution towards shaking up the Congress Party’s hold in the Hindi States when we helped the formation of SVD Governments in Bihar, U.P. and Madhya Pradesh in 1967.

Under Shri Jaya Prakash Narayan’s leadership, the Jana Sangh’s major role in the anti-corruption and anti-emergency crusade of the early seventies was yet another milestone in this effort.

For the Congress the watershed election was 1989.  Then on, the BJP just did not look back until it first became the largest party in the Lok Sabha in 1996, and then in 1998 formed the first NDA Government which lasted six years.

Apart from Dr. Mookerji and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, other national leaders who have played a key role in ending the Congress Party’s monopoly of power have been Dr. Lohia, Shri Jaya Prakash Narayan, Shri A.B. Vajpayee, Shri George Fernandes and Shri Madhu Limaye.

This success of the BJP in smashing the monopoly of the Congress party has been responsible for arousing the ambitions of so many bit players - several caste-based parties and several regional parties.

It is my view that while as in 2004, this time L.S. election was an aggregate of the variegated verdicts in the States, a common mood that dominated the voters’ psyche throughout the country in this last election was that the Union Government should not come into the hands of any such bit player.  No wonder, it is only two parties, the Congress and the BJP, who have won in the 15th Lok Sabha a tally of seats running into three digits.  All other parties are way behind.  Bipolarity in national politics has thus been endorsed by the electorate itself in the 2009 mandate.

* * *

In the aftermath of the 2009 Lok Sabha poll, two other issues have been raised in public discourse, as also within our party.  These are : BJP’s relations with the RSS, and the correct meaning of Hindutva.

Both these issues were debated publicly way back in 1979-1980 while we were still in the Janata Party. Vajpayeeji, Nanaji Deshmukh, Sunder Singh Bhandari, myself and many others like us belonging to the RSS were asked to sever our ties with the RSS if we wanted to continue in the Janata Party.  When we declined to do so the Janata Party threw us out of its fold.  It was then that on April 6, 1980 the BJP was formed.

We feel really grateful to the Janata Party for taking action against us otherwise we would not have achieved in Indian politics the remarkable success that we have.

For many in the BJP like me, association with the RSS has been a life-changing event.  I regard Dr. Hedgewar’s RSS as the noblest mass movement of modern India just as Swami Dayanand’s Arya Samaj and Swami Paramhans’ Ramakrishna Mission were similarly two great cultural movements launched in the nineteenth century.

At our office bearers meeting two days back two eminent Muslim colleagues of ours affirmed their faith in Hindutva but cautioned against any narrow bigoted anti-Muslim interpretation being put on it.

In 1979-80 when this issue of Hindutva was being debated in the Janata Party RSS Chief, Bala Saheb Deoras, addressing the annual Vijaya Dashmi rally at Nagpur observed :
It is said by some that the Sangh is changing and that it has to change further.  All living beings do change in their natural course.  It is a sign of their evolution.  That which does not change is not living, it is dead.  But this change does not take place by cutting itself off from the arteries of life-sap.  The Sangh too has changed in keeping with the necessities of the times, and will keep changing in future also.

Changes such as emphasising the wider concept of Hindu and Hindu Rashtra and of admitting persons belonging to other faiths into its day-to-day activities are even now taking place.  But such changes as these can come about if only the Swayamsevaks feel them to be necessary in the interests of the country.

In this speech, Deoras reiterated the R.S.S.’s rejection of the concept of a theocratic state and asked: “How can a people believing in the dictum Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti (Truth is one, sages call it variously) ever become champions of a State which would uphold the interests of one religion at the cost of others?”

Deoras regretted the tendency to decry use of the word Hindu as if it denoted something narrow and communal.  He said that, “the word signifies not any religious sect or geographical confines but symbolises a cultural life-current which has been enriched over centuries due to continuous interactions.”  He added : “It is our firm belief that words like Hindu and Bharatiya, Hindu Rashtra and Bharatiya Rashtra, are synonymous.”

Let every Indian citizen, irrespective of the faith to which he belongs, know that BJP’s understanding of Hindutva is fully in accord with the unanimous judgement given by the 3-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court on December 11, 1995.

* * *

Hidden in the demise of the Third Front and the Fourth Front is a big new opportunity for our Party. It is now obvious to every discerning observer of national politics that, in the years to come, genuine and effective opposition to the Congress can develop only around the pole of the BJP. Those whose hatred for the BJP has been stronger than their preference for an alternative to the Congress will either gravitate towards the Congress or become irrelevant in national politics.

The BJP has an opportunity to rally all others around its own pole to build a strong, stable and superior alternative to the Congress.  The history of post-Independence politics in India clearly shows that the people want such an alternative.

Three states - Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand - will elect their new Vidhan Sabhas soon.  The BJP, along with its allies, must get set to win the people’s mandate in at least two of these three states.  I therefore urge my colleagues, both at the Centre and in these states, to begin preparations for the coming Assembly elections in right earnest.

In short, the road ahead places two tasks before us: (a) increase the BJP’s own independent strength, and (b) increase the Party’s coordination with our present allies in the NDA and other non-Congress forces. I have no doubt that our Party can bounce back by addressing both tasks diligently.

In order to let Party cadres know both the opportunities and tasks before us, I have decided to tour the entire country in the months to come. I shall be visiting all the states, and more than one place in some of the bigger states.

Let me conclude my remarks by conveying a summing-up message. True, Elections 2009 did not produce results that we expected. We should not be found wanting in honest introspection. But introspection is different from finger-pointing. Let us treat the outcome of the elections as behoves a mature and highly resilient political party. True, we have to recognize our weaknesses. But let us not lose sight of our enormous strengths ― our nationalist ideology, our army of committed cadres, our battalion of talented leaders and, above all, the support and goodwill of the people for the BJP.

It is not only we who are disappointed, our legion of supporters are equally disappointed that we could not defeat the Congress. The people have high hopes and heightened expectations from the BJP.  Let us strive to rise to their expectations.

Thank you.

Vande Mataram!

June 23, 2009 | Filed Under Contributions | 41 Comments 

Rajnath Singh Speech

This is the full-text of the speech made by BJP President Rajnath Singh at the party’s National Executive meet on June 20.

Dear Friends,

A warm welcome to everyone in this meeting of the National Executive in  Delhi today. We had met in Nagpur. We fought the 15th Lok Sabha elections with our full political strength. I would like to personally thank each and every one of the millions of supporters and voters as well as our Karyakartas who supported us in the recent Lok Sabha  elections. The results were not upto our expectations. The people have  once again given us the mandate to sit in opposition. We accept the  verdict with humility and will once more resume our work. While we may  be surprised by the results, we are certainly not demoralized by them.  Why have such results come? This is definitely a subject of serious  introspection and analysis for us. At every step we will undertake  introspection and analysis. The conclusions that emerge from this process of churning of ideas will become our guiding light, and keeping that in mind, we will untiringly proceed further on our path by taking  everyone along. We will neither stop nor get tired. I am fully confident that in the end, we will be victorious. But in order to realize this dream of victory in the true sense, it is incumbent on our part that we should have a feeling of Nishkaam Karma and dedication. In my opinion, there might have been some shortcomings in our dedication and action. With time we need to do away with these shortcomings.

The Results of the Lok Sabha Elections

Friends, the results of the Lok Sabha Elections have not been upto our expectations. We accept these results. However, there is a widespread  propaganda that the BJP has got defeated nationwide. I do not accept this, because if we analyze the results regionally, then the results  are varied and not uniform from state to state. At some places our  performance has been spectacular, in some places we have substantially improved as compared to earlier, in some places it has been as it is and in some states our performance has been disappointing.

Yet the reality is that in totality we have lost 22 seats from what it was in the previous Lok Sabha.We all are aware that over the last five years we emerged victorious in the maximum number of states that went to the polls across the nation. We defeated the Congress in Jharkhand, Bihar, Punjab, Himachal and Uttarakhand. In Gujarat we got elected once again. Not only this, by forming the government in Karnataka, we hoisted our flag in the south.  This was a historic day in the political journey of the country.

No doubt we were unsuccessful in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. But we once again formed our governments in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. On account of the BJP’s increasing strength and the UPA’s unpopularity, the atmosphere appeared becoming favorable for us. No one can deny this that even one day prior to the election results, the
Congress leadership was in search of support from allies. Even the leaders of the Congress were not expecting so many seats. In any case, the political situation favored them and the Congress was successful in getting over two hundred seats.

The Meaning Behind the Results

If we analyze the results of the Lok Sabha results not from the point of victory and defeat, then one can find some intrinsic positive  indications in them. The results have given a big jolt to those parties  that used the politics of pure opportunism and had made it a fashion to  unnecessarily pressurize the government to display their strength. All such parties who followed this type of unprincipled politics that had emerged over the last 15-20 years, suffered heavily in these elections.On the one hand, the dreams of those parties who pursued caste based politics got shattered, and on the other hand, several candidates  having the image of musclemen were also badly defeated. So at least on  this account, the results of the 15th Lok Sabha have given an  indication that our democracy is becoming more mature.

This election has virtually demolished the politics of despotism and absolute opportunism. In West Bengal and Kerala the people have not only taught a lesson to the communists by defeating them, but have also put a stop to their political blackmailing.

In this Lok Sabha, not only has the Congress emerged as the largest party and the BJP has the second largest party, but the parties which  are at the third position like the Communists, SP, BSP and DMK, their strength is about 1/5th (around 20 seats) of ours. The big difference between the second largest and third largest parties clearly indicates that the people’s confidence in the country is increasing towards bi-polar politics. That is why we can claim that if in the forthcoming years we properly expand our organization and take effective steps to get the people’s mandate, then tomorrow will definitely be ours.

In contrast to many political parties who never hesitated in taking the help of caste, creed and religion for the sake of votes, there we placed greater emphasis on the nation over votes. Not only me but all of you believe that for us the nation is bigger than votes and we can draw satisfaction from the fact that the issues that we have raised was our national duty. We are not burdened by guilt. How can any nationalist support reservation on religious lines? How can one justify the allocation of budgetary support on religious lines? Politics and backwardness should not be viewed on communal angles, rather it should be viewed from a humanitarian angle. Be it the Sacchar Committee recommendations or the headcount of muslims in the armed forces, all these are a blow on the secular fabric of the nation. Even today I believe that constitutionally and morally, we are on the correct side. Eventually, even the country will accept that like social justice,

National Justice is a concept and politics cannot be above the national  interest. In my opinion, the BJP stands for national justice, and in  the future we will present this aspect in a more effective way before  the people and get their support.

Emphasis on Nationalist Policies

This time in our election manifesto we reiterated, our commitment for building a grand temple on the Shri Ram Jananbhoomi, our clear views  for abrogating Article 370 and our appeal for implementing the Uniform  Civil Code. Even today we are firm on these issues because we believe  that they are the core issues of the unity and integrity of the  country.All these issues are in national interest. In the coming years we need to more effectively convince the people about these issues.

Our Role as an Effective Opposition

The responsibility entrusted upon us by the people is not ordinary. I  would like to make it clear that the Congress now cannot shirk from its  responsibilities. It can no longer take the alibi of its allies. We  will continue our fight for the cause of India’s poor, farmers,  labourers and the common man.

Here I would also like to make it clear that on all issues of national nterest and those connected with the welfare of the average citizen,  we will fully support the government. However, for this the government will also have to step forward. As is expected in a democracy, it will  e the responsibility of the government to show that it is continuing  with the tradition of building consensus on all important issues.

Hindutva / Bharatiyata / Cultural Nationalism

Friends, after the results of this Lok Sabha election, some people have started  to give us this advice and in many newspapers it is being propagated  that the BJP should now leave the issue of Hindutva, because the BJP  has for the second time not won the election.

Firstly, Hindutva has never been a political issue and the BJP has never made it an issue that now it should discard Hindutva. A propaganda is being made that the defeat of the BJP symbolizes the rejection of the ideology of Hindutva by the people of India. I would like to ask whether this election was a referendum on Hindutva? If not, then how can the adverse results symbolize the rejection of our ideology? Since we have emerged as the main opposition party, how can it be said that we or our ideology has been totally rejected by the people?

Whenever anyone questions the BJP as to what we have to say about Hindutva, in this context I would like to state that Hindutva is not only ours but is an eternal way of life. In its famous judgement of 1995, the Hon’ble Supreme Court had ruled that Hindutva is not a religion but it is a way of life.

Friends, Hindutva is such a geo-cultural concept which has a sense of respect and a place for everyone and it is a concept of co-existence. It is this cultural consciousness imbibed with the concept of co-existence which has made Hindutva so benevolent and flexible. That is why Hindutva is eternal. Hindutva is the national essence of India. It is the natural flow of India’s national consciousness. Hindutva has not emerged out of a political resolution from the parliamentary board or executive of a party or organization; it is the national identity of India. On account of this very identity, the political nature of India is inherently democratic.

When we won, then also these people had propagated that Hindutva is behind the BJP’s progress and expansion. To associate a vast concept such as Hindutva with the politics of power, is nothing but one’s own lack of understanding. That is why we should not be confused by any such talk. Ideology is a perpetual flow. This flow can reduce or increase but it can never stop. Therefore, only those who are confused should think about this, we need not ever be confused about Hindutva.

Many reasons behind the defeat in the elections are being identified. We are analyzing them. We are not conservative in a negative sense. We welcome advice from society as “Amrit Prasad”. However, if someone advices us to sever ourselves from our very roots and remain attached only to the stem, in my opinion they are themselves confused and have not been able to understand the basic core of the BJP.

Any political party has four dimensions ý ideology, organization, leadership and strategy. In my opinion, organization, leadership and strategy play a more significant and immediate role in determining victory or defeat in elections. Ideology is a constant which is a perpetual guiding force for a party over and above victory or defeat in elections.

Hindutva occupies the same esteemed space in the politics of the BJP as the Constitution of India occupies in the politics of the country.Our political power emerges out of both, the policies and programmes of the party. Though we may not have got the expected success in the elections, but even today I am not willing to accept that our policies based on the feeling of stanch nationalism are faulty. Even today we are firm on all the issues raised by us, be it related to external and internal security of the country, foreign policy, terrorism, appeasement or disrespect to the cultural symbols or those related to the plight of the common man or farmers, as these issues are relevant for the country.

Yes I accept that we may not have been able to disseminate our position on these issues among the people as effectively as it was required in the present context. Perhaps we need to present our views in a better and more contemporary context.

For this, it is necessary that we evaluate our organizational structure, campaign and strategy.As the President of the party I would like to make it clear that as per the BJP’s tradition and ideology, success is a collective credit and failure is a collective responsibility. Therefore, we must collectively find out the solution. Yes, if anyone feels that any person should take the responsibility, then as the President of the party, I am willing to take this responsibility.

Today, the manner in which the comments and propaganda is being made about the defeat of the BJP, it can create confusion in the minds of our workers and supporters as to what were the reasons that we were unable to get the requisite support. According to one theory, we were  unable to get the requisite support because we were unable to maintain
our character. According to another theory, we were unable to get the requisite support because as per the political terminology in fashion, we remained right wing and could not emerge as moderate as was required today.

Even though many learned persons have commentated on this, nevertheless a clarification on this subject is required to create clarity in the minds of our workers, voters and supporters.

The Direct and Indirect Effect of Hindutva on the Politics of India

The ideology of staunch nationalism, which is also termed as the ideology of Hindutva, has always played a decisive role in the politics of independent India. The rise of the BJP in the decade of the 1990s was not only due to this but if we analyze it then the great popularity of Indira Gandhi after the 1971 Bangladesh victory was also a subtle expression of this staunch nationalistic ideology. At that time the people of India attached this ideology with Indira Gandhi. If we analyze carefully, the uninterrupted support which the Congress enjoyed for about one full generation after 1947, basically originated from a reaction in the sub conscious psychology of the common man due to partition in which the Congress emerged as a symbol nationalism in contrast to the Muslim League.

If we delve into the history of the country, the politics of the so called right wing as described by today’s political analysts always had a definitive space not only in the politics but also history of India. This space never got vacant though it’s context kept on changing.At the time of the freedom movement, in the eyes of the British rulers, the Congress was a right wing party. After independence, the Congress become more centrist and the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and today’s BJP subsequently occupied this space in Indian politics and ultimately changed the political configuration of the polity in independent India
by making it bi-polar.

When we study the pre-independence Congress, then the division of the Congress in 1907 into “Naram Dal” and “Garam Dal” actually germinated the seeds of a full fledged freedom movement. In 1905 when Tilak demanded total freedom, then he was termed as a right wing leader and the Britishers considered him as the cause behind the discontent in India. But from here itself the seeds of the freedom movement were sown which ultimately led to our independence.

Even when we read the views of the Viceroy of India Lord Dufferin at the time of the establishment of the Congress in 1885, it reflects that the formation of the Congress at that time was a right wing thought. The moderate thought at that time was to see more rights and concessions from the Viceroy and not the formation of a separate party.

Prior to this, in the first war of independence in 1857, which actually laid down the foundation of our struggle for freedom, its architects Nana Saheb Peswa, Rani Laxmi Bai and Mangal Pandey who are considered hero’s by the nation today, at that time symbolized the right wing staunch nationalist thought in the politics of the kings and princes of that period.

Even before this, the rise of Guru Govind Singh in the north and Chhatrapati Shivaji in the south of the Vindhyas against the despotic rule of Aurangzeb who at that time had the most powerful army in the world, also symbolized that staunch nationalism could never be  suppressed by might.

Prior to this, the diplomatic politics of Akbar under the influence of which most of the Rajput kings at that time opted for a moderate path,  then Maharana Pratap raised the flag of nationalism. By doing so, he  became immortal in the history of India. If one views him through the  eyes of modern analysts, the politics of Maharana Pratap would be  today’s so called right wing nationalist or Hindutva politics.

What I am trying to say is that what is called right wing today, its context has kept on changing not only over the last 40-50 years but actually over the last four or five centuries, and the historical  changes were brought about by this. From Maharana Pratap to Shivaji,  Guru Govind Singh, Nana Saheb Peswa, Tilak and India’s independence  emerging out of their efforts, the entire history is a proof of this. I  am giving you these examples of history because without understanding  the politics of the past, the foundation of future politics cannot be  laid down. The past indicates that this so called right wing positions  in Indian polity never left vacant. We are the natural flag bearers of this legacy. In this is imbibed our pride of past, the strategy of the  present and achievement in the future.

Political Reality of Today

Leaving aside the historical facts, if we look at the hard political reality of today then in the states where we are a political power, where we are in government on our own, where the chief minister belongs  to BJP or where we have had a BJP chief minister earlier, in all such  states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Himachal,  Uttarakhand, Delhi, Jharkhand and Karnataka, if we are in a direct  fight with any single party then it is the Congress. In Uttar Pradesh  also we had our government earlier and in these elections if any party which has registered the maximum success then it is Congress. It means  that our political power would be assessed in standing on the pole  opposite to Congress. Therefore, the political reality of today  indicates that we should be seen clearly on the pole opposite and  different to the Congress. Otherwise any kind of confusion not only in  principle but also in political terms would be detrimental to us.

If we look at the results of this election for instance, then indications are that the political parties relinquishing their basic character in Indian politics had to bear losses.In Indian politics there are mainly two political parties with respect to ideology, first the Bharatiya Jansangh / BJP considered to represent  right wing ideology and second the Communist parties considered to be  representing left wing ideology. In addition, the Congress as a third  stream is considered to be representing a centrist ideology. To a  ertain extent socialists represented socialist ideology and BSP the  dalit.

In this election the leftists had to bear the maximum damage. The left front government was seen acting contrary to their basic character on issues related to Singur and Nandigram. Not only they compromised for  power but also gave an impression of enjoying the power by practicing  the politics of convenience which is in complete contravention to leftist ideology. The result of the BSP trying to change its character by posing to be  harbinger of social harmony through the slogan of sarvasamaj in the  form of the so called Dalit-Brahman alliance is very much evident. Its dream of taking a big leap forward stands shattered. Therefore, whether it is the past or present, political or ideological,  in every aspect the conclusion is that changing the basic character or  ideology proves to be fatal for any party. Therefore any such idea  would be fatal for us in future. We should free ourselves from any such illusion.

Former US President Ronald Reagan had once said that - If you have to choose between character and strategy in politics, then, leave the strategy but be with the character - because you can survive without strategy but cannot survive without character.

Therefore we should keep in mind the eternal words, “swadharme nidhnam shreyoh, pardharmo bhayavaha”, said in Bhagwad Gita by Bhagwan Krishna. When we talk about the basic character of the party we should keep in  mind that we are not an ordinary political party which has the sole aim  of forming the government. But we are a representative party of such an  ideology the goal of which is to establish a new era and civilization.  Our thinking has a civilizational parameter. Therefore, defeat in one or two elections cannot deviate us. Senior leaders like respected Atal ji and Advani ji are symbols of this before us. Through a major part of their political life while working for the party with dedication, they might have never thought about coming to the power within their lifetime.

Most of us have ourselves seen Atal ji, Advani ji and before them Deendayal ji and Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee and numerous symbols of the great tradition of dedicated activists like the late Sunder Singh Bhandariji and late Kushabhau Thakreji. All of them used to work with the clarity that they will never come in power in their life. When we did not deviate at that time then can defeat in one or two elections deviate us? If we want to change history then we will have to possess an extremely strong will to stand against the tide of time.

Foreign Policy

In the present time, many important changes are taking place in the neighbouring countries of India. A few months ago, in Nepal the  Maoist government has fallen and a new government under the leadership  of Shri Madhav Nepal has been formed. On behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party, I congratulate Shri Madhav Nepal and his new government and hope that in coming days the Indo ýNepal relations will become normal and close as per the century old traditions.

Even now in Nepal attempts are being made to use violence and force in the political system. BJP believes that the change of system in Nepal should take place in a democratic manner and not through use of force. Even now the Maoists do not appear to be ready to leave the policy of using force. In Nepal the constituent assembly ably enforcing the new constitution through democratic means and strengthening the roots of democracy are not only in the interest of Nepal but also of India.

With the fall of LTTE in Sri Lanka, the politics based on violence has in a way come to an end and along with this a responsibility of presenting a stable political solution to the problems of Tamils by taking the advantage of a violence free atmosphere has come on Sri Lanka. We completely respect the sovereignty of Sri Lanka but it is necessary that proper representation of Tamil sentiments are given in a united Sri Lanka. I believe that long term solution of this problem
may be reached only by giving proper representation to the Tamils in the political system of Sri Lanka.

But, the kind of violence used in the course of operations against LTTE and the kind of news that have been received, it appears that common Tamil citizens had to face heavy violence. Thousands of deaths have taken place and Tamils have to live in an atmosphere of pain and fear. The Indian government has not taken any effective measure for its resolution. We believe that the government of Sri Lanka should initiate such measures to see that Tamil people are free from fear and an atmosphere of confidence is built, so that mutual confidence is established between the Tamil and Sinhalese people. The Government of India should take initiative in this direction.

Whatever is taking place in Pakistan today has at least shattered the  myth created by certain intellectuals in India and the international  community who used to cite Jammu & Kashmir as the main reason behind  worsening relations between India and Pakistan. The kind of internal  situation that exists in Pakistan shows that the basis of poor relation  with India is inherent in the ongoing internal radical politics of  Pakistan. All those countries who want to help Pakistan should  understand that it is not prudent to do so without changing the basic system of Pakistan. As long as the army in Pakistan doesn’t accept the system of working under the democratic government, the resolution of the internal problem of Pakistan is not possible.

The situation in Pakistan is deteriorating continuously. I have been saying it for the last two years that the centralgovernment should  keep a watchful eye on the condition in Pakistan as Pakistan is seen as moving towards disintegration. The extent to which the influence of Taliban has reached, it may definitely have an impact on our internal security. The kind of slackness which the UPA showed in its last tenure on the internal security front, if it keeps moving in the same direction the future may be grim.

The Government of India should make it clear that no formal dialogue  with Pakistan is possible until Pakistan reiterates its commitment to its promise made to the Vajpayee government on January 6th 2004 that it will not allow its soil to be used for anti-India activities. The Atalji led NDA government had extracted this promise from Pakistan but the UPA has failed to get it implemented. Now terror attacks like 26/11 in Mumbai and the peace process cannot go on simultaneously. I would also like to tell the international community that whatever is taking place on the western borders of Paksitan, nothing less is happening on its eastern borders. If the Pak activities on the Afghanistan border are grave then India can also now not remain a mute spectator to the ctivities on its borders. The Indian government should take effective diplomatic steps in this direction.

The incidents of racial violence against Indian students in Australia have risen over the last few days. The BJP expresses concern over this. Even before this, in Malaysia, the manner in which oppressions against people of India origin were carried out, the central government failed to respond suitably. Today violence is taking place against Indian students in Australia. As long as the central government does not make  a clear and strong policy vis-ý-vis Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and  People of India Origin (PIO), such kind of problems will keep cropping up. We expect the central government to make a strong policy in this regard so that not only in Australia but in the coming time NRIs and  PIO are not harassed in any other country.

Our Working Method - All Embracing Principle of Coordination and Progress

We are passing through a difficult phase. We have all the possibilities. People are also not denying the possibilities present in us. But we will have to kindle trust in their minds. Only those who have the capability to sacrifice themselves can kindle trust in society. The basis of our working method is trust and coordination.

These are not two words but represent the basic spirit. The work of the organization cannot progress without them.

We will have to expand ourselves organizationally, ideologically, socially and on the political plane. Somewhere limits of our expansion have stunted or we have not reached upto it. We will have to gear up for entering into a new horizon of expansion and progress. We will have to start making efforts collectively. In fact coordination is the all embracing philosophical perspective which would help us in finding answers to our all questions related to life and politics. We will have to keep chanting the basic mantra of BJP ideology to meet the challenges facing the country and the organization. While treading on this path we should be free from all doubts in our mind that coordination is a formula of compromise and therefore a path meant for weak people. No, it is a path of the strong. In fact it is an important component of the leadership and we will have to move ahead in this direction. The tradition of “Not me, but you” will have to be revived.

Developing Youth Leadership

I have no doubt in saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party gives maximum importance to youth in the state and national level politics. We have many young MPs, MLAs and Chief Ministers. Even then we should definitely develop youth leadership at the district, state and national levels. We believe that the work of identifying and grooming youth leadership should be done speedily.On the national and state levels, such public programmes should be organized which attract the youth and the Morcha should link them to the ideology. The youth have the power to change ý there is no doubt about it.

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have been associated with the BJP for years in comparison to other parties. We always say with pride that the BJP has the largest number of SC / ST MPs. But this time the situation is not as per our expectations.

We all know that in our organization, both SC and ST Morchas have been active. We will have to undertake an intense and well thought plan of expansion in this direction. Along with this we will have to carry social campaigns through these Morchas. In the states where we are in government and wherever we are in opposition we will have to take effective measures among these sections and we will have to expand our efforts in the seats we have lost and also by identifying the other seats as well.

Activate the Ground Level Units of the Party at all Levels

Even after constituting the organization upto the booth level, we will have to make plans and organize programmes to keep them always active. We also feel the need to monitor and take care of the efforts of these units at our levels. We will have to keep in mind that only our activists at the ground level units move among the people in villages and towns. The strength of our organization increases by his ideological commitment, activism and his personal contacts.

I feel that in every state, district Presidents and Mandal Presidents should compulsorily tour upto ground level units. Not only for election results, but for organizational expansion and activism of the ground level units it becomes necessary to establish continuous links with them. They should also be linked with social and other constructive works along with party works. If we succeed in doing so then I feel that in coming five years the strength and hold of our organization will increase.

People’s Representatives

I have been informed that out of all the MPs that we had in the 14th Lok Sabha only 37-38 have been re-elected. This is a matter of concern for us. I also remember that in the 14th Lok Sabha too the number of MPs getting re-elected from 13th Lok Sabha were less.

In the first National Executive Meeting after the election of 2004 Lok Sabha, respected Advani ji had expressed his concern about our MPs and MLAs not caring properly for their parliamentary and assembly constituencies. He had expressed grave concern over whether the ideologically motivated voters who form our constituencies were getting reduced. I feel that elected representatives should take care of his constituency at all levels. Along with this there should be close relation between the elected representative, organization and the core activists. After being elected, the representatives mostly get engaged in various other works leaving their constituency. I believe that the image of the party is built through the representatives. When I am talking about the image of the party then I should make it clear that the people’s elected representatives have the larger responsibility in building the image of the party and the society. When a representative goes among the people like one of them, takes the people along and struggles continuously and actively for the resolution of even smaller problems in a positive manner, then not only the reputation of the representative but the reputation of the party from which he is elected increases in the society.

I feel that the people’s representatives should understand their double responsibility. Party and the representatives themselves will have to take effective measures in this direction. Society never bears with the neglect of the people. And the era in which we are working politically is completely based on image. Therefore, as a people’s representative we should get our image assessed from time to time by different sources. At the party level also arrangements will have to be made so that image of the people’s representatives is improved instead of registering a decline. The party will have to make some concrete and effective plan in this direction. We all know that today common people want easy availability of the elected representative. The expectations of the common people from the elected representative also increases which is normal. I have no doubt in saying that an elected representative by his personal behaviour improves the image of the party and expands the party work among different sections of the society and by taking keen interest he may help win the nearby seats  which the party might have not won earlier.

Expectations from State Governments

The Bharatiya Janata Party has plenty of expectations from its state  governments; the governments of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have proven themselves hundred per cent upto expectations therefore people in these states returned the BJP to power again. One of the biggest reasons of the BJP coming back to power in these states is that these governments were successful in building an image among the people that these governments are their own. Common people in these states felt that these governments were meant for them. I feel pride in saying that the popularity and humility of our Chief Ministers of these three states had a big role in bringing back the governments.

It is not simple to create a sense among the people that the government is doing exactly what the people are expecting. In Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, the BJP government is gaining popularity as the governments of the common people. In Bihar we have our government in coalition and people in Bihar not only believe but say that after years a government working for development has been formed.

There is a huge responsibility on these governments. Whether the government in alliance in Punjab or the BJP government in Uttarakhand. Wherever our government is there or where we are in government, we have to create history. By creating history we have to try to win people’s affection and goodwill. Every section of society should feel that the government they have elected is their own and it is the duty of the common people to defend and cooperate with the government. Our state governments should establish close and deep relations with the people.

Discipline

I want to say a few words with regard to party discipline. We should keep in mind that the people who have built this party kept the organization above everything else. What we are today is just because the interest of the organization has always been kept above the interests and aspirations of individuals.

The BJP has been known for a different kind of party. It is a party which gives primary importance to its commitment towards discipline, principles and programmes of the party.All the state units of the party will have to ensure that the disciplinary mechanism and its principles are upheld with full commitment so that in the coming years the party may move forward with
better coordination and unity within party organization in the states.

Some Recommendations for Important Organizational Initiatives

Activists should be made to participate in the decision making process, programmes and in the implementation of policies.

More coordination between units at all levels and Morchas in the centre and state and with its constituent parts should be ensured.

Difference of opinions and complaints should be quickly sorted out.

Disciplinary actions should not be delayed but should be taken immediately.

Party units should be made active and effective at the ground level.

We should not limit ourselves upto the mandal level alone. We will have to ensure that these units continue to be active and work at all the time.

Regular training camps should be organized for both new entrants and existing activists at all levels.

New curriculum for the training of activists should be prepared and should be carried out in sessions.

Lastly, I would like to say that we should not have doubts or apprehensions of any kind with regard to the future. In this context I would like to remind you of an important incident in the history of the world when the US was passing through a phase of grave economic recession in the 1930s. The faith of the people of the US was shaken. At that time, Franklin Roosevelt whose both legs were affected by polio and was himself unable to stand on his feet said in his historical
speech on March 4th 1933 instilling faith across the entire US, “The biggest fear of ours is the fear itself.”  that our actual fear is based on the existence of fear. Roosevelt moved ahead with these words, brought the US out of the era of recession and made it play an effective role in the world war. He became US President for four terms and this was the time when the US got established as a world super power. Therefore we should also keep in mind the following lines from two poems of Atalji:

“Har me ya jeet me, kinchit nahi bahibhit main”

And another famous poem -

“Kadam mila kar chalna hoga”

The essence of our present and future are implicit in these two lines of Atalji.

June 23, 2009 | Filed Under Contributions | 4 Comments 

A Course for Destiny’s Destitute

by Indra Sharma

Every one among the leadership of BJP and even quite a good number of analysts and columnists were hoping for a win for the party. I had heard Cho Ramaswamy predicting BJP’s win to Vinod Dua’s query on NDTV. Advani at 81 really worked hard to get his dream realized. None among the top leaders including those who are vocal today had hardly any contribution in nationwide campaign. At least, I didn’t see or read about them in media.

On May 16, the dream of many got shattered. Once the winner is known, who bothers about the loser? The BJP top rung leaders were pretty humble in accepting the verdict of the people. But very soon the differences in them got out and that too in real ugly way.

Unfortunately, it is all for selfish reasons. Many who thought of getting plum place in the cabinet after a gap of five years became again destitute. As many Indian fans are seeking Dhoni’s head after the defeat in World Cup, the blame game started in BJP Instead of going for honest introspection and planning the correction and next steps, the top leadership appears to be engaged in fixing blame to individuals. Jaitley was darling till he won assembly elections in many states. But suddenly Jaitley became villain for these leaders.

Jaswant started, another Jaswant followed. Shourie and some other added fuel to the fire. I had some flashbacks- a bad memory of the first Jaswant distributing opium and then cash in his home constituency. And his reasoning to media were hardly convincing. Again, I could hardly appreciate the Harvard educated and highly efficient minister Shourie when he perhaps unknowingly started the controversy by injecting the name of Narendra Modi as prime ministerial candidate after Advani.

BJP and these senior leaders would have heard the warning siren after the defeat in Rajasthan assembly election and corrected its strategies for the Lok Shabha election. But Jaswant or Mirdha didn’t take any initiative. Neither Raje changed her style of functioning, nor did BJP leadership get into the game for rescue. In name of noninterference, BJP also allowed Uttarakhand slipping out of hand for its disastrous result.

I wish BJP decides about its CEO and his team fast enough to put a check on the fighting aspirants.

Many who have some soft corner for BJP and who were looking for a substitute for dynastic Congress demand an answer from each of the leaders involved in the controversy for some questions:

Should we write off BJP, the party with difference? Do these leaders want us to forget BJP as alternate to Congress? Should we look for some other party or switch over to Congress that was once the darling of many because of the historical sacrifices in pre-independence era?

Let me assure these leaders that many still don’t find Congress to satisfy the aspirations of the middle class of India and so look to BJP as their darling. Will the BJP leadership stop their bickering and chalk out the plans to get ahead and win the next electorate battles? Will they stop the letter wars and the demand of probes of leakages?

People of India wish to see BJP as a strong and popular national party with sound policies and better programmes I am sure BJP has a big enough following among highly educated professionals and intellectuals too who can be of great help if the party leadership so wishes.

Indra blogs at http://drishtikona.com.

June 22, 2009 | Filed Under Contributions | 4 Comments 

Creation of Small States

by Anish Tripathi

The time for the creation of smaller states has obviously come and BJP is largely seen as a party that is friendly towards the concept of smaller states, unlike the Congress, where it is a political stance (say depending on whether it needs TRS votes at that point in time or not).

India is a very large country (7th largest in the world in terms of land area) and needs more manageable administrative units (which is essentially what a state is). Funnily, we are divided into mini and mega states (28 nos.) and both options seem to be flawed. India is a vast and variegated country, with many languages, castes, religions, geographic profiles, and societal problems. The mega states are unable to meet the just developmental requirements of all their regions, as some of them are larger than many countries. While others are so tiny, that there are economically unviable, and that has even led to political instability. While nothing much can be done about the micro states now (since they already exist) for emotional reasons, we can definitely do something about the mega states of India. However, except for the initial States Reorganization Committee that was set up, all other states that have been created in independent India have followed a flawed process, and were the outcomes of stupid political give-and-take. That doesn’t mean that they should not have been created, but it does mean that we need to have a better process in place, so that the justified aspirations of neglected regions know how they can go about getting a state of their own created.

I think that the a country of this size and population, deserves to have 40-50 states, so that people do not need to travel a thousand kms to get to their state capital, and to their elected government, in case they want their grievances addressed. Interestingly, a Hindu priest once told me (and no this is not some right-wing Hindu revivalist agenda), that ancient India was anyway divided into around 50 “khands”, and a faint consciousness of these geographic (not religious mind you), entities is still their in the collective memories of people, in folk songs, in religious texts (like during incantations) and funnily enough, even used in electoral voting analysis (we have all heard Dr. Pranoy Roy enunciating about the voting behaviour in say the “Mahakoshal” region of Madhya Pradesh)!

Here are a few suggestions on the process:

There are many demands for the creation of new states in the country, including Telangana, Vidarbha, etc. Actually, a casual look at the geography of India, throws up at least the following potential candidates for statehood:

  1. Telangana (from AP)
  2. Rayalaseema (from AP)
  3. Konaseema (balance parts of AP)
  4. Kongu Nadu (from TN)
  5. Coorg (from Karnataka)
  6. Marathwada (from Maharashtra)
  7. Konkan (from Maharashtra)
  8. Khandesh (from Maharashtra - it had a large geographical spread during the British days, and included some parts of South Gujarat)
  9. Vidarbha (from Maharashtra)
  10. Mumbai (the MMR region that is - this was Jawaharlal Nehru’s original plan - Congress are you listening?)
  11. Western Maharashtra (may be better to call it the state of Pune)
  12. Saurashtra (from Gujarat)
  13. Kutch (from Gujarat)
  14. Marwar (from Rajasthan)
  15. Mewar (other part of Rajasthan)
  16. Malwa (from MP)
  17. Mahakoshal (from MP)
  18. Bundelkhand (from MP and UP)
  19. Baghelkhand (from MP and UP)
  20. Awadh (from UP)
  21. Rohilkhand (from UP)
  22. Poorvanchal (from UP - although I prefer the name Kashi)
  23. Gorkhaland (from WB - why not)
  24. Kalinga (from Orissa)
  25. Utkala (from Orissa)

I am sure that there could be more options and difference names for the proposed states, or even different Geographic contiguities.

Finally the mother of all decisions should also be to separate Jammu, and Kashmir into separate states and grant the legitimate demands of the people of Ladakh for a Union territory of their own.

While this almost sounds “splittist”, frankly, we will see much better governance and a greater devolution of power. It will also make the central government less dependent on the state satraps of large states, which actually creates a problem in addressing national issues (like water sharing), because the central government cannot afford to annoy the satraps of a large state.

We also tend to become emotional about the splitting up of states (as if they are seceding). This is just to acknowledge the utter impossibility of managing the mega states that we have and the fact that large sections of people in many parts of these states genuinely feel neglected.

Having a process in place makes it clear to all the Chandrashekar Raos out there that politics in the name of a state, wherein you don’t have a plan to deliver or a mechanism in place, can only give short term political gains. The message should also go out that why should be become emotional about taxonomical monstrosities like Uttar Pradesh (a mindless translation of the British-given United Provinces) and Madhya Pradesh (similarly from Central Provinces), when we have our own lovely historical names to get emotional about like Awadh and Malwa?

While so many states can be overawing  as a concept, India cannot absorb the financial impact of creating more than three new states every five years (this would have to be ensured by the SRC), as this is a long-term plan, and hence would not be disruptive.

Why can’t the BJP, a party committed to the cause of smaller states, take up this issue, to demand the establishment of a process, so that legitimate demands do not get stifled due to politics, and mindless politics do not create needless demands for states that are not viable?

June 22, 2009 | Filed Under Contributions | 4 Comments 

Makes & Breaks in Politics: Analogies with Corporate World

by Sudipto Das

One of the most important concepts in Indian culture and philosophy is that of the role of a creator, savior and destructor. People in India, since ages, have believed that the life cycle of anything, be it a nation, or civilization or a human life, is nothing but three phases of creation, survival and destruction. From the religious point of view also Brahma the creator, Vishnu the savior or protector and Shiva the destructor have been associated with the highest level of divinity. Keeping aside the theological aspects of this concept, it also has a very far reaching implication in almost everything thing – including the corporate world and the politics.

In a span of three decades the creation, growth and the recent debacle of BJP is a very relevant phenomenon in this respect. There have been introspections (or atmamanthan – one of the terms that Vajpayee had made popular even among the Hinglish crowd), review meetings, innumerable columns and writings on the causes of the debacle. Very logically nothing surprising has come out of all these. Most of the things that have been pointed out seem to be known to all. Nevertheless, none of these findings should be ignored with a ‘we-all-knew-this’ attitude like the kids in the class of Christopher Columbus who were all asked to place a boiled egg with shell firmly on a table and Columbus was the only one to break the shell, flatten the bottom and place it firmly on the table.

In Swami Vivekananda’s words ‘education is the manifestation of perfection already in man’.  It’s no rocket science or the lack of it that makes someone a success or failure. In most cases debacles happen for reasons that are always known. So all the exercises for reinventing the reasons for any failure is always welcome. It’s also important to study success and failures at various fields and spheres because at the end of the day the reasons for any success or failure have some common things, knowing which just helps us to become more aware, educated and enlightened.

I’d like to analyze the growth and decline of a company which I’ve see from a close distance and draw an analogy to the same for politics. The intention is to infer that growth and decline always follow a particular pattern and the successful corporate and politicians always try to understand the pattern as best as possible.

The nineties saw a large number of technology startups in the San Francisco Bay area, popularly known as the Silicon Valley. The nearby universities at Stanford and Berkeley always provide an uninterrupted supply of talent to the Bay Area. Most technology companies either are head quartered or have important design centers in Bay Area. Intel, HP, Sun, Google all started in Bay Area. One of the technology areas which saw quite a few startups in nineties is called EDA or Electronic Design Automation, which provides CAD (Computer Aided Design) tools for designing semiconductor chips for electronic products. While semiconductor, which includes behemoths like Intel, IBM, Nokia, Motorola, Sony, Samsung and innumerable others, is a huge industry, EDA is very small. Individual revenues of Intel and Nokia are $40b and $50b respectively and the entire EDA industry has revenue of only $4b. That’s why EDA is perhaps one of the most fiercely - often bordering to nasty – competitive industries.

Little different from the Congress monopoly in Indian political scene, EDA had a sort of oligopoly dominated by the big brothers Cadence & Synopsys for quite some time. There were many small entities like the regional parties, but none could do anything significant till late nineties when a company named Magma suddenly rose like a sphinx. With barely a few million dollars of revenue in late nineties it attained $250m (1/8th of total EDA GDP) in 2005. When the semiconductor design houses were getting frustrated with the complacencies of the biggie-duo Cadence & Synopsys, a dashing young Indian entrepreneur, Rajiv Madhavan, still in his twenties, brought in fresh hopes and newer and more efficient ideas for making chips. The big brothers Cadence and Synsys didn’t provide a one-stop-shop and the customers had to buy a suite in pieces and stitch them together. On the contrary Magma came up with a single stitched elegant suite. Most importantly Rajiv exactly understood the problems and the aspirations of his customers - the chip makers.

The result was phenomenal. Apart from Google, not many startups in Bay Area can boast of such a success in so less time. Magma came into being in late nineties and by 2002 it had already become number two in areas of its operation, displacing the big brother Cadence. Magma’s reputation in customer satisfaction became a matter of threat even to the other big brother Synopsys. The entire designer community felt proud to be associated with Magma. In started attracting the best of the talents.

In a few years Rajiv could ‘destruct’ the old hegemony of the big brothers Cadence & Synopsys and ‘create’ a successful company. Rajiv was indeed a great Creator with all the right traits required for ‘creation’. He was aggressive, emotional, passionate, possessive, ruthless and ambitious. The Big Brother Synopsys tried its best to put him down, but he was just unputdownable.

The next logical phase of the business is retention or ‘protection’ of the growth. There’s a startling difference between destruction/creation and protection. It’s no theology, but sheer practical sense, that the protector Vishnu has been given a totally different image than the destructor Shiva. The Protector is much more matured, not emotional, very practical, composed and off course much more benign than the Destructor. The traits required for destruction/creation and protection are as different as playing cricket and singing songs. It’s not necessary that Sachin Tendulkar can also sing like Kishore Kumar. That’s when the problem started with Magma. Rajiv is an excellent creator but turned out to be a bad protector. He went on with the same aggression, arrogance and emotions with which he’d created the company. He slapped a law suit on the Big Brother Synopsys without much reason and drained huge amount of money for fighting the case. Synopsys kept on dragging the case as long as possible because they knew Magma would bleed heavily with the sky-rocketing legal costs in USA. His views and comments in public became too harsh and arrogant as compared to the relatively soft image of Synopsys. At the same time his lofty claims about some of Magma’s future products didn’t turn out to be fully true in due course. Gradually people started to dislike the very arrogance and aggression in Rajiv that they had liked few years back. In the mean time very silently and humbly Synopsys came up with a really good product that challenged Magma’s superiority in recent times. Gradually people started to prefer the ‘softer’ Synopsys rather than the ‘hard’ Magma. That was also the time when the global slowdown starting taking its toll and Magma went into a whirlwind downfall.

Let’s turn back to the rise and decline of BJP from just two seats in 1984 to close to 200 in 1999 and down to 120 in 2009.The nineties saw the dramatic rise of BJP who could well understand the pulse of the nation. India had been frustrated with the fifty years of misgovernance, corruption and minority appeasement by the Congress. Indians badly needed some fresh outlook, transparency and a cultural nationalism to pump up the declining global position of India. BJP came up with the right mix of aggression, passion and emotion to destroy a fifty year old dynastic misrule and setup the startup of a successful coalition government in the center for the first time. Almost the entire educated middle class aligned themselves with BJP in the nineties.

But when came the turn of protecting the same government it started losing ground because of the same reason why Magma started failing. The same aggression that brought BJP to power became the negative point. The excessive attack on the older Big Brother Congress was not taken in the right way by the same people who’d voted the Congress out a decade ago in favor of BJP.

Like I hope Rajiv matures as a protector, BJP can also overcome the transition from a destructor/creator to a protector. It’s just a maturing phase that will pass by. The same people who had brought BJP into power in nineties might not be the best candidates to play the role of ‘Protector’. There has to be a change of guards. This shouldn’t be seen as an embarrassment or humiliation for the old timers because their contributions and expertise are not being ignored. It’s only that after Sachin’s innings it’s time for Kishore Kumar to sing. Let Sachin not attempt to be Kishore Kumar. Sachin is Sachin and Kishore Kumar is Kishore Kumar. It’s no embarrassment to Sachin that he is not Kishore Kumar. It’s just not his cup of tea.

Coming back to where I’d started – let’s understand that we not only need a Shiva, but also a Vishnu. That’s what runs a business, and that’s what runs politics!!

Postscript

The following links provide more information about the companies mentioned in the article:
http://www.magma-da.com
http://www.synopsys.com
http://www.cadence.com
Interested people can get more of the incidents I’ve referred in http://www.eetimes.com

Sudipto blogs at http://sudiptounplugged.blogspot.com

June 21, 2009 | Filed Under Sudipto Das | 6 Comments 

Cabinet Reforms

by Anish Tripathi

BJP needs to start showing itself as a party of natural and frankly better governance than the Congress and hence it needs to start talking the language of a constructive opposition, which is going to keep the government on its toes, and get reforms through. One of the immediate areas is the failure of the UPA government to give the country a small and manageable council of Ministers.

Let the BJP take up the cause for the need to reduce the number of ministers and ministries, and freeze them through an all party mechanism, so that the temptation to split and create new ministries to accommodate allies, or in this government’s case, inconvenient state level players of the congress (like Vilasrao Deshmukh) is precluded. A quick and cursory look at the number and kind of ministries calls for a reduction in the number of cabinet ministers from the current 33 to 16. Each cabinet minister will by default need to be a senior and experience politician, who can manage a set of ministers of state (eliminate the concept of independent charge, as it is the cabinet minister who should be responsible for the overall performance of the ministry and report to the PM - the MOSs should report to the cabinet minister only).

The new cabinet positions could be as follows:

S No. Cabinet Subsidiary Ministries

1

 Defence

2

 External Affairs Overseas Indian Affairs,

3

 Home

4

 Finance

5

 HRD Youth Affairs & Sports, Education

6

 Agriculture Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution

7

 Commerce

8

 Industry Food Processing, Chemicals & Fertilizer, Steel, Mines, Textiles, Heavy Industries, Public Enterprises, Corporate Affairs, Science & Technology, MSME, Tourism

9

 Transport Railways, Civil Aviation, Road Transport & Highways, Shipping,

10

 Energy Power, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Coal, New & Renewable Energy,

11

 Economic Development Urban Development, Rural Development, North Eastern Region, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Water Resources

12

 Environment Environment & Forests

13

 Convergence Telecom, IT, Information & Broadcasting (Media & Entertainment)

14

 Law & Justice

15

 Social Development Tribal Affairs, Panchayati Raj, Social Justice & Empowerment, Heath & Family Welfare, Labour & Employment, Minority Affairs, Women & Child Development, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Statistics & Programme Implementation,

16

 Parliamentary Affairs
PS
I&B Ministry to be renamed Media & Entertainment
Parliamentary Affairs to be renamed PMO

One can immediately see that there is a synergy between most ministries that have been clubbed together as shown above.

This is not going to be easy, but that is the Congress’ problem. Can the BJP take up this issue aggressively in the media and the people directly?

June 21, 2009 | Filed Under Contributions | 4 Comments 

Reinventing the BJP

Outlook has an article by Saba Naqvi:

Since politics is the art of the possible, it is presumed by rational minds that the BJP will learn from the electoral drubbing, do some soul-searching and try to keep up with a changing world. But that will happen only if the BJP accepts its many shortcomings and gets out of its current state of alternating between denial and depression. A section of the party is emphasising the need for a makeover, but there is also the tendency to blame extraneous factors, like the Ram temple movement.

Outlook decided to ask commentators, analysts and historians what the BJP can do to reinvent itself.

June 20, 2009 | Filed Under Contributions | 19 Comments 

BJP Leaders! Be Responsible!

by Indra Sharma

Let the BJP leaders realize that many of the well wishers of the country who may or may not be its voters are watching every move of yours and every word that you utter with interest. LK Advani came out with good points and Sushma was just stunningly impressive who is now second in command as opposition leader. Surprisingly, the contents were very positive. Any one listening to the debate can feel proud of it. BJP must perform its best in parliament. Many like me get their impression changed for the party. But BJP as promised in parliament must cooperate with the government on issue of national interest without politicking; otherwise the people will not take it kindly as in case of indo-US Nuclear deal.

However, the other press reports are equally depressing for the well wishers. With media that is very fast and active today, the news from BJP is worrisome for its future. The senior leaders while demanding for “free and frank” discussions on its rout in the Lok Sabha polls are trying to become very personal and trying to settle to score against individuals. First of it, they must realize it’s not rout. It may be certain losses in certain states. If they can’t positively introspect themselves, they can agree to appoint some outsiders to pinpoint the reasons for not reaching the target numbers of win without making individuals responsible for it. It should also get a code of conduct for the way its leaders must behave to make it a good party, if necessary from its well wishers.

It must not lose time and start working with zeal to prepare itself for elections in the states. Let Jaswant Singh, the Darjeeling MP see if he can facilitate its constituency to get its pride past and expand the BJP in the area. Arun Shourie is an intellectual and he must be the face of the party on small screen and other for a. He must develop a team of intellectuals some of whom can substitute him on the forum in his absence.

Let all the senior leaders above 70 years in age who do not wish to retire give up the dreams of leading the country only as prime ministers or leaders of opposition. Some of them can be mentors at the centre and some may volunteer to go the state. Let them follow the example that the CEOs of Infosys are setting.

Let the party elect a panel of four-five second level leaders, one of whom can work in rotation as president for a year. The party members can elect the best of them to lead the nation in next election. As unlike Congress, BJP is not a dynastic party, the dissidence is obvious but by creating a transparent democratic system of party organization, the party can win election. Internal democracy must be the marketing strength of BJP.

Why can’t BJP drop introspection if it is creating trouble within the party? Let it go to decide the roadmap for the win in the next assembly elections in the states and a win in 2014. Many columnists including Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt, Vir Shangvi, and their own Arun Jaitley, Swapan Dasgupta and Sudheendra Kulkarni have already written their views on the shortcomings. Why can’t a select group of senior BJP leaders take the viewpoints of the columnists and discuss them positively for decision on the action plan?

Let the top leadership facilitate its chief ministers to perform with development reaching to the vote banks. Let it also make every MP who has won election this time responsible to win at least two more constituencies for BJP. Let the party select at least two young and winnable candidates for each constituency right now, and facilitate them to nurture their constituency.

In the parliament BJP or NDA must create a shadow cabinet giving the responsibility to cover one ministry of the government to two of its members, the second MP as alternate. It will build responsibility and prepare them for future. It should also keep on reshuffling them based on performance.

As the government now will go for development politics, the party must come out with better ideas and appear to be superior to the ruling one.

Under the changed expectations of the voters, the party and its MPs the present one or the prospective ones must be different and may be more professional in approach.

The top senior leaders or mentors such as Advani, Jaswant Singh, Arun Shourie, Murli Manohar Joshi and others must keep on moving all around the country and undertake the task of involving good leaders from all walks of life - the professors, the scientists, the economists, the farmers, leaders from unions, women and students- in the party.

Indra blogs at http://drishtikona.com.

June 20, 2009 | Filed Under Contributions | 18 Comments 

Don’t write off the Conservatives

Pramod Kumar Buravalli writes on Rediff.com:

India is overwhelmingly Hindu just as the US and UK are overwhelmingly Christian. The commonality between the liberal parties currently in power in the above mentioned “democratic” countries is that they portray themselves as “secular, all-inclusive and left of centre in terms of socio-economic policies”. These parties are generally resented by the majority but due to the nature of the democratic voting system, they end up winning due to their respective blocs of “minority” votes and the split in majority votes.

The Congress in India came to power in 2009 mainly due to two factors. The consolidated Muslim, Christian and Dalit votes which constituted 20 per cent of the 28 pc vote share the Congress obtained. The Congress also benefitted from too many parties vying for the ‘opposition space’, thus splitting the anti-incumbency votes and ultimately helping the Congress win in multi-cornered contests.

Similarly, Obama’s [Images] Democratic Party came to power with a slender 51 pc vote share because of a consolidated votebank of Hispanics, African Americans, Asians and lower income group Anglo-Saxons.

The commonality between Obama and Manmohan Singh’s [Images] parties and victories is very clear. They won due to their liberal appeal and sops to their respective mainstays, ie, “minorities and economically marginalised sections”.

Politics is influenced by four vital Ms: mind, money, media and man power. Just like the kings of the past, if any party in a democratic system is able to control these 4 Ms effectively, they can win election after election.

Is that the magic mantra to win elections consecutively? While this may hold true, the converse is just as true.

June 19, 2009 | Filed Under Contributions | 9 Comments 

The Need for Dashboards

The New York Times has an interesting article on what the US Government’s CIO thinks is needed for better deployment of technology in government: Dashboards.

Mr. Kundra’s job is to manage what will be $76 billion in spending to maintain 10,000 government systems as well as 800 active projects to build major new systems (those costing $50 million or more). I asked him how he could possibly keep tabs on all this to prevent the next $600 million albatross. He had a one-word answer:

Dashboards.

By the end of June, Mr. Kundra hopes to start yet another federal Web site that will give officials and the public a window into all of the active government technology projects. For each project, it will show the purpose, schedule and budget. It will show the name and photo of the federal official responsible and the names of which contractors are working on the project, a fact that Mr. Kundra says oddly has not been made public before.

Most important, it will keep track of what Mr. Kundra believes are leading indicators that a project is going awry.

Can we have something similar in India?

June 19, 2009 | Filed Under Contributions | 4 Comments 

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