(Commentary)
Is the BJP trying to change course and redefine itself? Is Mr. Lal Krishna Advani trying to drop his calling as the late 20th century iron man and a mascot of Hinduism? Is he trying to appear to be secular even though that word and its connotations are unacceptable in the Sangh Parivar? Is there a renewed effort to present a new image of what was once supposed to be the party with a difference from the rest of the political class to be part of the crowd professing all their contradictions? Is there a deliberate effort to say goodbye to hardcore Hindutva and be a lookalike of the Congress. Is all this charade being done with the consent of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh or the RSS that getting back into power business and ruling India by winning the next general elections are more important initially rather than to be tied to the coat tails of hard-line Hindutva diehards? Is this the last cry of survival in a world full of contradictions?

Is that the reason why Mr. Advani said after the recent National Executive meetings of the BJP: shun the hardline approach and take a centrist stand to attract and retain allies in the National Democratic Alliance? Is that the reason why he insisted that the BJP must reach out to every section of society, including Muslims and Christians who have remained aloof from the party? How come Mr. Advani who prides himself as the inventor of the words, pseudo secularism and minorityism and runs down other parties for engaging in vote bank politics is eating his own words or disowning them and swearing by ideologies alien to his own psyche? Incredible, but true.

Is it because BJP and other parties, some of them its allies and others opposed to it have won 12 Assembly elections and the Congress has defeated in all of them, except that the Congress won Haryana and a few small States in the last four years since it came to power at the Centre in the year of 2004? Is it that the BJP now sees a heaven sent opportunity to win some more Assembly elections and especially the next general elections? Is it possible that Ms. Mayawati became a thorn in the flesh of the BJP by usurping its Bania and Brahmin constituency in Uttar Pradesh and gave a drubbing to all parties opposed to it, especially the BJP and Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav's Socialist Party and dethroned him from his hot seat of Chief Minister, with which the BJP had a secret alliance after breaking off with the irrepressible Ms. Mayawati herself?

Is it true that in spite of the bad blood between Ms. Mayawati and BJP leaders, there is a realization that without intending it, her entry into the Gujarat, Himachal and now Karnataka elections, she has indirectly helped BJP win with majorities or just gain a near majority? One assessment of the latest Karnataka elections shows that Ms. Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party secured 4 per cent of the total vote and in 13 constituencies where Congress or some other candidates lost the elections by 1,000 to 1,700 votes, her absence could have swung the fate of the Congress or other candidates. If 10 of them were Congress candidates, the tally could have been BJP 95 and Congress 90 and BJP could have been far short of the near majority in a House of 224 and Mr. Deve Gowda and his son, Kumaraswami, could have been spoilers and they would have bargained for their pound of flesh.

This scenario clearly shows that the BJP badly needs the BSP and Ms. Mayawati and can no longer afford to displease her. It will have listen to her demands and blandishments in Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh Rajasthan, Delhi and Maharashtra as she will be playing games all over the country, perhaps even in West Bengal and Kerala and give the Communists a few hiccups in the times to come. At the present moment, the BJP cannot afford to reach out and patch up with her after the alliance with the BSP broke up in U.P. and an election brought Mulayam Singh to power. But BJP leaders and even RSS political thinkers cannot afford to ignore her clout and her ability and capacity to swing election results and influence them in large parts of the country. Behind the scenes, the less important Brahmin, Bania and Thakur leaders of the BJP must be planning to talk to these upper and not so upper caste leaders for some kind of an understanding in the run up to the general elections. By the time preparations are in hand and candidates are chosen, there could be or might be a seat sharing arrangement with the BSP even if an alliance is not crafted and announced. This may be an inescapable strategy. The reasoning would be that there are no permanent friends and enemies in politics. There are permanent interests. This would be the line of argument in BJP circles.

Is this why Mr. Advani announced his plank of reaching out to every section of society, including Muslims and Christians, even if the Jains and Buddhists were not mentioned because the Buddhists are the constituency of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, supposedly inherited by the BSP and Ms. Mayawati? Is this the reason why Mr. Advani even bypassed or negated or even overruled the theory propounded by the party president, Mr. Rajnath Singh a day earlier that the word secularism had to be redefined. In fact, the party chief would have liked the words secular and socialist dropped from the Constitution. That is all gone now. At one time, the BJP led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had even accepted Gandhian socialism as an acceptable proposition, though much to the chagrin of the RSS ideologues? But now Mr. Advani is trying hard to cast himself in the image of Vajpayee and be all good things to all people. The era of Babri Masjid is over, Jinnah is secular again and all is well if Mr. Advani can be Prime Minister in midsummer next year.

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