No captain to navigate
rudderless BJP
By Deepal Trevedie
The
Gujarat BJP, once considered to be a model for all other states, is
in doldrums at present.
The BJP government and
the party act and work like two exclusive entities in Gujarat and pass
on the buck to each other when they fail to deliver. In this dirty game
of theirs, the people of Gujarat who gave the BJP an absolute majority
feel cheated. And while the people feel cheated, the ministers and leaders
continue to work with their personal stake as the guiding factor.
The BJP in Gujarat has
no one strong or mature enough to tell the Keshubhai Patel government
to improve its performance. And the party needs to be told that it requires
inculcating sense of discipline arid unity. But there is no one in the
sangathan whom Keshubhai could tell this. The BJP party has no leaders
in the actual sense of the term. Just disciplined soldiers - sishtbuddh
sainiks as they like to be called.
Take an example. Who in
the party sangathan at present can tell Keshubhai to stop talking about
gokul grams and concentrate on the performance of his ministers. That
gokul grams, his favourite subject to talk about, is nothing but a hollow
concept. If Keshubhai’s Gokul Gram Yojna was such a stupendous success,
we would not have had the gram panchayat elections, due in December,
postponed. Indisputably, drought sounds to be a good excuse for the
election postponement. But the fact is that gokul grams exist only in
Keshubhai’s mind, not in Gujarat. There have to be true well wishers
who tell this to Keshubhai. The Chief Minister has to have a coterie,
which keeps him rightly informed. Or at least stop influencing him wrongly.
If Keshubhai have had a
good coterie that sincerely wished good for Gujarat and him, it would
have advised him not to give the work of organising the Kevadiya function
to those who ultimately did it. (And after the fiasco, they kept their
mobiles off).
These ministers undoubtedly
made a fool of themselves and displayed their weak organisational capabilities
but then they made the government look like a bigger fool. A good coterie
could have advised that don’t entrust this job to ministers. They are
good only at talking and that the Swaminarayan sect could have done
a better job.
And isn’t it unfortunate
that these ministers, responsible for the Kevadia function, who have
a reputation to be always accessible, whether it is to talk on drought
or university politics, could not be contacted by even ministerial and
party colleagues. When these ministers are not accountable even to their
own colleagues, how can they be accountable to the general public?
Another example is the
government passivity versus the judicial activism. Every person staying
in a high-rise building in Ahmedabad knows the pain of getting electricity
and water supply cut because of lack of fire safety equipment. For every
middle or upper middle class person, a house s a life time investment.
In the first place, either the government should have not allowed any
builder to build houses if the fire safety norms were not adhered to
or the government could have intervened and passed a legislation regularising
the constructions before the matter reached such serious gravity. The
government should have done something concrete instead of showing the
inertia and completely passive attitude in the matter.
It seems that what is dogging
the BJP in Gujarat is a complete lack of direction coupled by leadership
vacuum. The Gujarat BJP needs leaders who not only want to take credit
for everything they do or don't do but real leaders who are ready to
take up responsibilities even for the mistakes. Not people who keep
passing the buck to others. The idea of ownership needs to be promulgated.
Look at businessmen. How possessive they are even about their not so
great enterprises. And ironically here, nobody in the BJP wants to own
up anything.
Even if Keshubhai reshuffles
his ministry or his bureaucracy, things are not going to change for
the urgent need is for a reshuffle within the party. The BJP as a party
needs mature, strong leadership - one that can tell Vaju Vala not to
exceed his limits, tell Suresh Mehta that he needs to patch up with
Keshubhai Patel instead of putting up facades. The party also needs
someone to tell Haren Pandya and Jainarayan Vyas to be on better terms
with each other.
In short, the BJP at party
level needs to do away with all leaders who are more of the Yes Boss
types and give place to genuine leaders. Of course catching them
young is good but then the young and inexperienced need to be inculcated
a set of leadership qualities, a sense of political maturity, a feeling
of responsibility, not just for themselves but others as well. The BJP
has to change its criteria. At present commitment tops the list of being
a favourite or a close confidant.
If you are dumb, if you
have no leadership qualities, if you have no organisational abilities,
you still could become an important minister or a ‘party office bearer
for loyalty and commitment is the only criteria considered. The party
needs to come out of this Shankarsinh Shadow of the "Great Betrayer".
The party has to realise that loyalty is important but performance is
equally important. People with personal ambitions can be streamlined
and inculcated a sense of belonging to a party. You either perform or
perish. BJP has to have more professional politicians than simply committed
loyal cadre of below average characters.
So, even if tomorrow Keshubhai
reshuffles his ministry or his bureaucracy, the BJP in Gujarat is going
to be dogged with problems. For if BJP in Gujarat has to be put on the
right track it needs a total revamp. Revamping the party organisation
to give place to bright, hard working, performance oriented persons.
Who keeps a report card of the performances of others in the party and
strive to improve the party image. Who keeps a tab on personal ambitions
of party office bearers and ministers. Who is not carried away by the
maska patti or hollow claims of commitment. Who works professionally
to consolidate the party.
The BJP in Gujarat needs
to change its notion about commitment or loyalty, which also means trust
and confidence. ‘This can come by working in a concrete and positive
manner that consolidates the BJP. It could also mean constructive criticism
to improve the party. And that commitment does not mean doing endless
maska patti and making eternal claims of loyalty. But at present
in Gujarat BJP can we expect anyone to tell this to Keshubhai Patel
or Rajendrasinh Rana? The answer is no.
