11-16-2007, 04:46 AM
Vitriolic article in Deccan Chronicle, 16 Nov 2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->BJPâs debut in South
By S. Viswam
Indian secularismâs southern citadel has shaken, but not yet fallen. The saffron wave has only penetrated what was once regarded impenetrable. The Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the senior partner in the BJP-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government now in power in Karnataka. That exalted position formally marks the BJPâs debut in South India, <b>all the four States which have successfully resisted for six decades the advent of a communally tainted political formation.</b>Â <!--emo&:lol:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' /><!--endemo--> To Karnataka goes the distinction (to call it "honour" would invite protest!) of hosting a BJP-led government for the first time in the South. But, give the devil its due. We must not grudge the BJP and its well-earned and well-deserved achievement. It pursued its aim of getting a foothold in the South with single-minded determination.
It took the BJP two decades and more to touch the fringes of power: it was the junior partner in coalition with the JD(S) for 20 months. It has taken nearly three decades for the BJP to taste power on its own. There have been years of hard work and patient political mobilisation that saw the party overcoming challenges to its growth. The party pursued a strategy that enabled it to strike roots in rural Karnataka first and then extend its clout to the urban areas. Indeed, it can be appropriately said that the BJPâs claim of being a party with a difference was more valid in Karnataka than in any other southern State.
The BJP kept a low profile in the initial years of its career and then turned aggressive and combative in later years. This strategy, in turn, brought it political dividends although at the cost of dividing the society. <b>Ironically though, Karnataka was not the saffron parivarâs first target for penetration. It was perhaps the last in its calculations of political prospects in the four southern States. This was partly because Karnataka was till the other day a "rock solid" Congress State and partly because, more than its leaders, the people of Karnataka were, in a sense, devotees of Mahatma Gandhi and in love with the Congress ideology. It was not uncommon for the Congress to win all the Stateâs 28 seats in the Lok Sabha.</b> If non-Congress parties could dent the Congress fort in Karnataka, it was because the breakaway groups were led by leaders committed to Gandhijiâs values and nurtured by the Congress ideals and traditions. They were all committed Congressmen basically mouthing the same ideology, but they were all disillusioned with the prevalent "Congress culture" and wanted to strike out a more principled path. <!--emo&:roll--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /><!--endemo-->:
Kerala was the saffron parivarâs choice as the first southern State to attempt a foray. The "attack" on Kerala was mounted by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, with the erstwhile Jan Sangh (now the BJP) and Ramrajya Parishad and sundry Hindu groups in toe. The RSS registered initial successes in weaning away a sizable section of the Hindu community from local parties, a large number of whom were in the field. The RSS pursued a strategy typical of its own: it started dividing the society along communal-religious lines. The strategy worked up to a point, but eventually the RSS could not penetrate the strong ideological base that the communists had established after Independence. Indeed, the first non-Congress government in Kerala was formed by the Communists who seized power through the ballot box in mid-sixties of the 20th century.
<b>Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were cool to the BJPâs initial overtures.</b> The BJP experimented with the RSSâ divide-and-benefit strategy in the beginning but was effectively thwarted even though the party was able to engineer some communal clashes here and there. <b>Clearly, the Andhra and Tamil societies found no real appeal in the Hindutva campaign, for the simple reason that in both the States the Hindus and Muslims have an enviable history of communal harmony.</b> <i>{Maybe society in both states was dhimmified albiet differently?}</i>Tamil Nadu, for instance, never experienced a communal riot in the first four post-Independence decades. The same was the case in the other States. However, the "credit" for sowing the seeds of communal hatred and mutual suspicion between the two communities in all the four southern States goes to the BJP. The BJPâs politics introduced religion-oriented passions and changed the Hindu-Muslim equations substantially for the worse.
The BJPâs growth in Karnataka has been truly phenomenal. It won only 18 seats in the 224-member State Assembly in 1983 (its first participation in electoral politics in the State), only four seats in 1985 and only two seats in 1989. However, from 1990 onwards, its electoral fortunes rose in comparison with the decline in those of the Congress. In 1984, it won 40 seats, in 1999, 43 seats and in 2004, as many as 79 seats overtaking its two immediate rivals the Congress and the JD(S).
<b>One may not agree with the BJPâs divisive ideology nor commend its highly unprincipled and opportunistic political style. But there can be no argument over the fact that in Karnataka at least it is a party that was wronged twice.</b> In the first instance, the Congress and the JD(S) joined hands after the 2004 Assembly polls in a power-sharing arrangement to pre-empt the BJP from staking a claim to form the government by virtue of its being the largest single party. In the second instance, the JD(S) reneged on its commitment to transfer power to the BJP after 20 months although nothing that the BJP had done during its partnership with the JD(S) merited such punishment, at least nothing compared to what its Gujarat counterpart accomplished in 2002.<i>{Now collective guilt!}</i> Yet, the JD(S) precipitated a first class political crisis necessitating the imposition of Presidentâs rule on the specious plea that a BJP government in power could engineer communal clashes since it was engaged in the process of establishing a "communal laboratory" in Karnataka.
It is needless to recount the happenings between October 3, when the JD(S) refused to transfer power and November 12 when the BJP nominee Mr. B.S. Yeddyurappa (who was the deputy chief minister in the outgoing coalition) was sworn in as the new Chief Minister. The events are too fresh in public memory to warrant repetition. However, it is essential to record that politics really hit an all-time low during the period under Presidentâs rule with politicians belonging to all the three major parties, the Congress, the JD(S) and the BJP displaying political opportunism of the most depraved variety. They set a new record in political chicanery, dishonesty and total bankruptcy of ethical values in their naked obsession with and greed for power. <i>{The high and mighty attitude of the journalist! While he probably got free perks in the Journalist colony in Banjara Hills.}</i>
<b>The BJPâs debut in the South raises two questions. Can the party replicate its achievement in any other southern State?</b> The short answer: most unlikely since the political ground in the other three States is not as fertile as in Karnataka. <b>Second, what about the Yeddyurappa governmentâs stability and longevity?</b> It will be imprudent to answer yes or no, since the existing ground realities do not encourage any bets on its survival. Even a "may be" answer is only possible after the present confusion ends. It is to be seen if the BJPâs luck holds out for 20 months more or it too goes the way of all flesh!
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Gives a good idea of what BJP is against in South India. In AP the people are dhimmified due to Nizam's rule. In TN they are also dhimmified and socially engineered during British rule. The reason Karnataka was able to see thru pseudo-secularism is due to the independence under the Mysore Maharaja rule.
The Congress rule was an extension of the good work that the Mahatma did.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->BJPâs debut in South
By S. Viswam
Indian secularismâs southern citadel has shaken, but not yet fallen. The saffron wave has only penetrated what was once regarded impenetrable. The Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the senior partner in the BJP-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government now in power in Karnataka. That exalted position formally marks the BJPâs debut in South India, <b>all the four States which have successfully resisted for six decades the advent of a communally tainted political formation.</b>Â <!--emo&:lol:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' /><!--endemo--> To Karnataka goes the distinction (to call it "honour" would invite protest!) of hosting a BJP-led government for the first time in the South. But, give the devil its due. We must not grudge the BJP and its well-earned and well-deserved achievement. It pursued its aim of getting a foothold in the South with single-minded determination.
It took the BJP two decades and more to touch the fringes of power: it was the junior partner in coalition with the JD(S) for 20 months. It has taken nearly three decades for the BJP to taste power on its own. There have been years of hard work and patient political mobilisation that saw the party overcoming challenges to its growth. The party pursued a strategy that enabled it to strike roots in rural Karnataka first and then extend its clout to the urban areas. Indeed, it can be appropriately said that the BJPâs claim of being a party with a difference was more valid in Karnataka than in any other southern State.
The BJP kept a low profile in the initial years of its career and then turned aggressive and combative in later years. This strategy, in turn, brought it political dividends although at the cost of dividing the society. <b>Ironically though, Karnataka was not the saffron parivarâs first target for penetration. It was perhaps the last in its calculations of political prospects in the four southern States. This was partly because Karnataka was till the other day a "rock solid" Congress State and partly because, more than its leaders, the people of Karnataka were, in a sense, devotees of Mahatma Gandhi and in love with the Congress ideology. It was not uncommon for the Congress to win all the Stateâs 28 seats in the Lok Sabha.</b> If non-Congress parties could dent the Congress fort in Karnataka, it was because the breakaway groups were led by leaders committed to Gandhijiâs values and nurtured by the Congress ideals and traditions. They were all committed Congressmen basically mouthing the same ideology, but they were all disillusioned with the prevalent "Congress culture" and wanted to strike out a more principled path. <!--emo&:roll--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /><!--endemo-->:
Kerala was the saffron parivarâs choice as the first southern State to attempt a foray. The "attack" on Kerala was mounted by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, with the erstwhile Jan Sangh (now the BJP) and Ramrajya Parishad and sundry Hindu groups in toe. The RSS registered initial successes in weaning away a sizable section of the Hindu community from local parties, a large number of whom were in the field. The RSS pursued a strategy typical of its own: it started dividing the society along communal-religious lines. The strategy worked up to a point, but eventually the RSS could not penetrate the strong ideological base that the communists had established after Independence. Indeed, the first non-Congress government in Kerala was formed by the Communists who seized power through the ballot box in mid-sixties of the 20th century.
<b>Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were cool to the BJPâs initial overtures.</b> The BJP experimented with the RSSâ divide-and-benefit strategy in the beginning but was effectively thwarted even though the party was able to engineer some communal clashes here and there. <b>Clearly, the Andhra and Tamil societies found no real appeal in the Hindutva campaign, for the simple reason that in both the States the Hindus and Muslims have an enviable history of communal harmony.</b> <i>{Maybe society in both states was dhimmified albiet differently?}</i>Tamil Nadu, for instance, never experienced a communal riot in the first four post-Independence decades. The same was the case in the other States. However, the "credit" for sowing the seeds of communal hatred and mutual suspicion between the two communities in all the four southern States goes to the BJP. The BJPâs politics introduced religion-oriented passions and changed the Hindu-Muslim equations substantially for the worse.
The BJPâs growth in Karnataka has been truly phenomenal. It won only 18 seats in the 224-member State Assembly in 1983 (its first participation in electoral politics in the State), only four seats in 1985 and only two seats in 1989. However, from 1990 onwards, its electoral fortunes rose in comparison with the decline in those of the Congress. In 1984, it won 40 seats, in 1999, 43 seats and in 2004, as many as 79 seats overtaking its two immediate rivals the Congress and the JD(S).
<b>One may not agree with the BJPâs divisive ideology nor commend its highly unprincipled and opportunistic political style. But there can be no argument over the fact that in Karnataka at least it is a party that was wronged twice.</b> In the first instance, the Congress and the JD(S) joined hands after the 2004 Assembly polls in a power-sharing arrangement to pre-empt the BJP from staking a claim to form the government by virtue of its being the largest single party. In the second instance, the JD(S) reneged on its commitment to transfer power to the BJP after 20 months although nothing that the BJP had done during its partnership with the JD(S) merited such punishment, at least nothing compared to what its Gujarat counterpart accomplished in 2002.<i>{Now collective guilt!}</i> Yet, the JD(S) precipitated a first class political crisis necessitating the imposition of Presidentâs rule on the specious plea that a BJP government in power could engineer communal clashes since it was engaged in the process of establishing a "communal laboratory" in Karnataka.
It is needless to recount the happenings between October 3, when the JD(S) refused to transfer power and November 12 when the BJP nominee Mr. B.S. Yeddyurappa (who was the deputy chief minister in the outgoing coalition) was sworn in as the new Chief Minister. The events are too fresh in public memory to warrant repetition. However, it is essential to record that politics really hit an all-time low during the period under Presidentâs rule with politicians belonging to all the three major parties, the Congress, the JD(S) and the BJP displaying political opportunism of the most depraved variety. They set a new record in political chicanery, dishonesty and total bankruptcy of ethical values in their naked obsession with and greed for power. <i>{The high and mighty attitude of the journalist! While he probably got free perks in the Journalist colony in Banjara Hills.}</i>
<b>The BJPâs debut in the South raises two questions. Can the party replicate its achievement in any other southern State?</b> The short answer: most unlikely since the political ground in the other three States is not as fertile as in Karnataka. <b>Second, what about the Yeddyurappa governmentâs stability and longevity?</b> It will be imprudent to answer yes or no, since the existing ground realities do not encourage any bets on its survival. Even a "may be" answer is only possible after the present confusion ends. It is to be seen if the BJPâs luck holds out for 20 months more or it too goes the way of all flesh!
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Gives a good idea of what BJP is against in South India. In AP the people are dhimmified due to Nizam's rule. In TN they are also dhimmified and socially engineered during British rule. The reason Karnataka was able to see thru pseudo-secularism is due to the independence under the Mysore Maharaja rule.
The Congress rule was an extension of the good work that the Mahatma did.