National

Mask Of Progress

In elevating Bangaru Laxman to the president's post, two birds are killed with one stone

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Mask Of Progress
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The fact that the Bahujan Samaj is now a permanent and undeniable political presence in the country seems to have been laid down in stone. Or, why else would the BJP, which purportedly stands for the ideology and politics of the Hindu right, effect a change in its long, unbroken, tradition of always electing a member of the upper caste for the top job. So, when the saffron party elevated Bangaru Laxman - a Dalit leader from Andhra Pradesh and a dark horse - to the party president's post last week, there could be only one way of looking at it: a social engineering manoeuvre that was long overdue for the BJP. It's being seen as yet another effort by the party and the Sangh to come out of the conventional Hindi belt, Brahman-Bania mould.

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While 61-year-old Laxman has the distinction of being the first south Indian and the first Dalit to be elected BJP president - even the Jana Sangh did not have a Dalit chief - the fact remains that he is not a heavyweight. BJP leaders concede that nobody is expecting Laxman to play a great role as far as the party's political manoeuverings are concerned. Vice-president J.P. Mathur told Outlook: "There are no superhuman expectations (from Bangaru Laxman)."

Laxman's elevation to the post of party president also indicates that the BJP no longer considers a strong president as a prerequisite for its all-out growth. The days are gone when the party president used to be all-powerful. The old giants like Atal Behari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who are now in the government, are still seen as the main architects of the BJP's strategy. Clearly, the leading lights of the party don't want somebody who can overshadow them and challenge the policies that they formulate as a government. They want somebody who is relatively young, is not very ambitious and is not known for his indomitable fighting spirit.

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Prime Minister Vajpayee had made this amply clear at the 1999 Bangalore convention of the BJP, where president Kushabhau Thakre had made some noises about the party not being consulted by the government on important matters like the insurance bill. In a clear snub to Thakre, Vajpayee had asserted that the prime minister's decision "has to be final as far as the government is concerned". Even before taking over as president, Laxman has clearly said that he will follow the spirit of the Bangalore convention, implying that he'll avoid any confrontation with the government.

But Laxman's taking over as BJP president will, party leaders feel, give a psychological edge to the oppressed sections. Says party general secretary K.. Govindacharya: "We consider caste a political factor and a social reality. But our decision wasn't influenced only by that. The natural effect of this decision will enhance the BJP's favour among the depressed. It has already had its effect in that the confidence of the most backward castes (in the party) has increased."

However, the decision can hardly be called an effort within the party to promote relatively young leadership. Laxman's long association with the rss along with his south Indian Dalit background weighed heavily in his favour. But given the structure of the BJP, a low-profile leader of the party like Laxman will only end up following the course charted by far more experienced leaders like Vajpayee. With a leader like him - said to be the PM's choice - at the helm, Vajpayee will have a stronger grip over the party. By this the BJP intends to kill two birds with one stone: rework its politics in terms of increasing Dalit-obc assertion and wrest more freedom for its pro-liberalisation government from the iron-grip of its hardline party organisation.

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Laxman, on his part, will have to go that extra mile to prove that he cares for his people. He intends to hold Dalit conventions in different parts of the country. But, it's also clear that the BJP's upper-caste votebank won't allow him to cross the lakshman rekha.

Bangaru Laxman takes over BJP's reins at a time when it's teetering at the edge in UP - one of the most politically significant states that goes to poll next year. He will thus have to shoulder the dual responsibility of steering clear of the pitfalls in UP and prove his credentials as a south Indian Dalit leader by expanding the party base in the four south Indian states. A tall order indeed.

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