What IsThe “Good Feeling”About?

 The mood in the BJP circles is quite upbeat. They seem to believe (or want others to believe) that they have already won the parliamentary elections they are in a tearing hurry to conduct in the second half of March. Their hopes may not finally come to fruition.

 Venkiah Naidu is on cloud nine, mouthing overused cliches like “feel-good factor” and “TINA” ((there is no alternative). To him, there is no alternative to BJP for the electorate. It is a rather amusing thought to entertain that the electorate has no choice.

 Much of the BJP’s “feel-good” illusion comes from its victory in the assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It would be wiser for them to pause and think for a while that Congress had won the same states (in an undivided Madhya Pradesh) five years ago with a wider margin than the BJP has done.

 That poll behaviour is not always identical in states and Centre was evident when the BJP that was defeated in the assembly polls won the Lok Sabha seats from the same states rather convincingly within the next few months.

 They are feeling good about having conducted a nuclear test. Now, let us see who deserves the credit, if credit can at all be given to a political party for national achievements. Right after independence, the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru started the nuclear programme, bringing in the best minds into the field, opening research centres and building nuclear reactors.

 Mrs Indira Gandhi conducted the first nuclear test a quarter century before the BJP even came to power. There was one difference, however. Mrs Gandhi did it in a way nobody could challenge India. The BJP did it in a way that brought India down to the level of Pakistan, which too conducted its tests within days. Nobody anywhere in the world talked of “the two nuclear powers of South Asia”, referring to India and Pakistan as every American and European newspaper does today.

 There are people who feel good when farmers commit suicide, when the economy grows without generating employment, when riots, murder and arson are conducted as a pre-poll exercise.

 The US State Department’s Commission for Religious Freedom has, in its latest report, indicted the Sangh Combine for conducting communal riots, leading to mass murders and destruction of property all over the country. This is not for the first time that the commission has specifically indicted the BJP (as a branch of the Sangh) for the riots.

 In their earlier reports too they have said that there are definite indications of riots flaring up regularly because the rioters know that with BJP in power nobody would hold them to account. Commission officials have earlier gone to the extent of thinking loudly over the possibility of recommending to Secretary of State to impose sanctions on India. 

FEELING GOOD INSTEAD OF BEING SERIOUS 

Earlier governments too tried hard to improve relations with neighbours. Rajiv traveled to Beijing to normalise relations with China. He also had serious parleys with Benazir Bhutto when both were prime ministers of their countries. Rajiv was serious about it. Instead of feeling good about such efforts, the Congress Party felt serious. We never tomtom such efforts as great achievements. Improving relations with our neighbours would take years of serious hard work instead of cheap gimmickry. We have to caution our people about the long, difficult process of improving relations with our neighbours, instead of indulging in childish gimmicks.

 Development means more employment, not less, as we see today. If the benefit of development is cornered by a handful of people in the big cities, there is no reason for the masses to feel good about it.

 On a purely political level too, certain developments show a trend of secular parties coming together, at least for the election. Mayawati’s BSP is likely to ally with the Congress, as are the communists. Deve Gowda is unlikely to ally with BJP. NDA’s West Bengal ally Trinamul is losing steam.

 In Kerala the NDA is yet to open an account. In Karnataka too it is not on a strong ground. In Maharashtra (where it did not do too well earlier) it is likely to slip further. In Orissa and Tamil Nadu too, it is not going to retain all its seats.

 In UP, the BJP will fall far short of its best performance. Bihar too will remain a tough nut to crack. So, what is the good feeling really about? The only hope for BJP and its NDA partners hinges on the disarray in Congress Party. In the final analysis, it is a psychological war that a demoralised Congress seems to have made up its mind to lose even if it has the capability to win.g

IOSCA

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