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TO ALL THOSE WHO MOURN THE DOWNFALL OF THE BJP DUE TO THEIR OWN DOING!
After Atal, there’s Gidki
MANINI CHATTERJEE
Vajpayee, Indira
Beyond the din of a bitterly contested electoral battle between Mulayam Singh and Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi, two leaders still evoke great respect and affection among the people of Uttar Pradesh — their names cropping up, unbidden, in many a conversation throughout our journey across large swathes of the state.
The first is Indira Gandhi, who is remembered most fondly by the rural poor to this day. The second is Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose appeal transcends caste, age and religion.
But if the nostalgia for Indira Gandhi is helping her grandson’s Mission UP in no small measure, the memory of Vajpayee is having the opposite effect on the BJP. Far from enhancing the fortunes of the party, Vajpayee is remembered with a sigh of regret, his absence highlighting the “directionless and leaderless” state of the BJP.
Mohibullah Abbasi, a retired government servant who lives in a quiet leafy colony in Lucknow, is no supporter of the BJP. But that has not diminished his respect for Vajpayee who was once his MP. “Jaise ruh nikal jaaye aur sirf body rahe jaaye, Vajpayee ke jaane ke baad, BJP mein kuch raha hi nahin (just as a body turns lifeless after the soul departs, without Vajpayee the BJP has been reduced to nothing).”
Abbasi may have never voted for the BJP, but his sentiments are echoed — albeit less poetically — by young Amit Gupta at Fatehganj near Bareilly. “Jabse Atal Bihari Vajpayee rajneeti chhoden, tabse BJP UP mein down hi hoti gayi (ever since Vajpayee quit politics, the BJP has been going downhill in UP).”
His father, once a staunch supporter of the BJP, adds: “Jhoote vaade karte hain, isliye bhi BJP bahut ghat gayi hai (the BJP has shrunk also because it makes false promises).” At one time, all the Brahmins, Thakurs and Vaish (traders) firmly backed the party. Now the BJP cannot count on a single one of them, Gupta says.
Hundreds of miles from Bareilly, we hear the same thing in Akbarpur.
Naveen Tripathi is quite certain that the BJP will poll less than even an Independent despite the fact that the BJP alone has fielded a Brahmin candidate and there is a substantial number of Brahmins in the constituency.
“What does the BJP have to offer today? What does it stand for? Why should we take it seriously anymore? It is a party that promises something to come to power and on getting power turns its back on the promise,” he says, referring to the Ram Mandir agenda which propelled the BJP to power in UP and was then abandoned.
But even after the mandir fiasco, BJP attracted voters because of Vajpayee, Tripathi feels. “A real leader draws people, gives a sense of hope and direction. BJP has no such leader today.”
Vajpayee was not just about charisma and oratory; the grid of “superfast” national highways is his lasting legacy. “It takes just two-and-a-half hours to reach Lucknow from Akbarpur, and that is thanks to Vajpayee’s vision,” Tripathi insists.
At a roadside corner on the outskirts of Sitapur, Suman Shukla sells gol gappas. He is too young to remember the Vajpayee era but like most people of Uttar Pradesh, he breathes politics. In the Sitapur seat, the BJP’s Saket Mishra is quite popular but in Uttar Pradesh as a whole, the BJP is on the decline, he says.
The Congress will form a government here sooner or later but the BJP has no chance — “unke paas koyi neta hi nahin hai (they don’t have any leader)”, oblivious to the fact that the BJP boasts of a battery of leaders no party can match. None of them, he indicates, can hold a candle to Vajpayee in terms of mass appeal — at least in Uttar Pradesh.
Shukla tries to recall the name of the BJP leader who recently addressed a rally at Sitapur and after some time says: “I think it was someone called Gidki.”
BJP workers seem to be even more despondent than their one-time supporters. At a place called Jangbahadurganj in Lakhimpur Kheri district, Mahesh Kumar Gupta runs a small restaurant. He also happens to be the chief of the local unit of the BJP — or so says his visiting card. But he is not particularly active in the polls and candidly says: “Neta ki kami se, Bhajpa har jagah fail ho rahi hai (because of the lack of leadership, the BJP is failing everywhere).”
But doesn’t Uttar Pradesh have many big leaders — Rajnath Singh, Kalraj Mishra, Lalji Tandon, and now Uma Bharati? Gupta dismisses them as “too big” and says “we need leaders who are approachable, who can keep in touch with workers”.
This despondency might be one reason for the strange silence of the BJP campaign. In all the passionate debates that take place around chai shops in every village, kasba and town, the BJP seldom comes up for mention.
Mulayam’s supporters are the most vocal this time around, but there are enough voices rooting for Mayawati and much chatter about the electoral significance, if any, of the “Rahul factor”.
But the BJP, whose supporters normally dominate conversations at election time, are not to be seen or heard. The chances of individual BJP candidates are occasionally discussed but the party as a whole doesn’t figure.
BJP state president Surya Pratap Shahi insists that the “silent undercurrent” is for the BJP and “with each phase of polling, we are gaining in strength”. If that is true, there is certainly no indication of it on the ground where people remember the glory days of Vajpayee and rue the current state of his party.
After Atal, there’s Gidki
MANINI CHATTERJEE
Vajpayee, Indira
Beyond the din of a bitterly contested electoral battle between Mulayam Singh and Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi, two leaders still evoke great respect and affection among the people of Uttar Pradesh — their names cropping up, unbidden, in many a conversation throughout our journey across large swathes of the state.
The first is Indira Gandhi, who is remembered most fondly by the rural poor to this day. The second is Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose appeal transcends caste, age and religion.
But if the nostalgia for Indira Gandhi is helping her grandson’s Mission UP in no small measure, the memory of Vajpayee is having the opposite effect on the BJP. Far from enhancing the fortunes of the party, Vajpayee is remembered with a sigh of regret, his absence highlighting the “directionless and leaderless” state of the BJP.
Mohibullah Abbasi, a retired government servant who lives in a quiet leafy colony in Lucknow, is no supporter of the BJP. But that has not diminished his respect for Vajpayee who was once his MP. “Jaise ruh nikal jaaye aur sirf body rahe jaaye, Vajpayee ke jaane ke baad, BJP mein kuch raha hi nahin (just as a body turns lifeless after the soul departs, without Vajpayee the BJP has been reduced to nothing).”
Abbasi may have never voted for the BJP, but his sentiments are echoed — albeit less poetically — by young Amit Gupta at Fatehganj near Bareilly. “Jabse Atal Bihari Vajpayee rajneeti chhoden, tabse BJP UP mein down hi hoti gayi (ever since Vajpayee quit politics, the BJP has been going downhill in UP).”
His father, once a staunch supporter of the BJP, adds: “Jhoote vaade karte hain, isliye bhi BJP bahut ghat gayi hai (the BJP has shrunk also because it makes false promises).” At one time, all the Brahmins, Thakurs and Vaish (traders) firmly backed the party. Now the BJP cannot count on a single one of them, Gupta says.
Hundreds of miles from Bareilly, we hear the same thing in Akbarpur.
Naveen Tripathi is quite certain that the BJP will poll less than even an Independent despite the fact that the BJP alone has fielded a Brahmin candidate and there is a substantial number of Brahmins in the constituency.
“What does the BJP have to offer today? What does it stand for? Why should we take it seriously anymore? It is a party that promises something to come to power and on getting power turns its back on the promise,” he says, referring to the Ram Mandir agenda which propelled the BJP to power in UP and was then abandoned.
But even after the mandir fiasco, BJP attracted voters because of Vajpayee, Tripathi feels. “A real leader draws people, gives a sense of hope and direction. BJP has no such leader today.”
Vajpayee was not just about charisma and oratory; the grid of “superfast” national highways is his lasting legacy. “It takes just two-and-a-half hours to reach Lucknow from Akbarpur, and that is thanks to Vajpayee’s vision,” Tripathi insists.
At a roadside corner on the outskirts of Sitapur, Suman Shukla sells gol gappas. He is too young to remember the Vajpayee era but like most people of Uttar Pradesh, he breathes politics. In the Sitapur seat, the BJP’s Saket Mishra is quite popular but in Uttar Pradesh as a whole, the BJP is on the decline, he says.
The Congress will form a government here sooner or later but the BJP has no chance — “unke paas koyi neta hi nahin hai (they don’t have any leader)”, oblivious to the fact that the BJP boasts of a battery of leaders no party can match. None of them, he indicates, can hold a candle to Vajpayee in terms of mass appeal — at least in Uttar Pradesh.
Shukla tries to recall the name of the BJP leader who recently addressed a rally at Sitapur and after some time says: “I think it was someone called Gidki.”
BJP workers seem to be even more despondent than their one-time supporters. At a place called Jangbahadurganj in Lakhimpur Kheri district, Mahesh Kumar Gupta runs a small restaurant. He also happens to be the chief of the local unit of the BJP — or so says his visiting card. But he is not particularly active in the polls and candidly says: “Neta ki kami se, Bhajpa har jagah fail ho rahi hai (because of the lack of leadership, the BJP is failing everywhere).”
But doesn’t Uttar Pradesh have many big leaders — Rajnath Singh, Kalraj Mishra, Lalji Tandon, and now Uma Bharati? Gupta dismisses them as “too big” and says “we need leaders who are approachable, who can keep in touch with workers”.
This despondency might be one reason for the strange silence of the BJP campaign. In all the passionate debates that take place around chai shops in every village, kasba and town, the BJP seldom comes up for mention.
Mulayam’s supporters are the most vocal this time around, but there are enough voices rooting for Mayawati and much chatter about the electoral significance, if any, of the “Rahul factor”.
But the BJP, whose supporters normally dominate conversations at election time, are not to be seen or heard. The chances of individual BJP candidates are occasionally discussed but the party as a whole doesn’t figure.
BJP state president Surya Pratap Shahi insists that the “silent undercurrent” is for the BJP and “with each phase of polling, we are gaining in strength”. If that is true, there is certainly no indication of it on the ground where people remember the glory days of Vajpayee and rue the current state of his party.