Can BJP replace Congress?

It is no secret anymore. People of India are very frustrated by the UPA (United Progressive Alliance), and especially, the Congress party. By all accounts, the present central government of India is perceived to the most corrupt government of all time. In addition, the country desperately needs urgent proactive measures in almost all sectors, whether it is human resource development, public health-care, agriculture, infrastructure development, defense & internal security, or economy in-general. The economic growth projections are falling; and it is said that we’d be lucky to touch 6.5% -7% by end of 2012; whereas the planning commission desires growth-rate of 10% sustained throughout 2012-2017 for the 12th plan (more info: http://planningcommission.gov.in/plans/planrel/12appdrft/appraoch_12plan.pdf). How the heck are you going to do that and provide funding for all ambitious projects? Making the things worse, the Congress-led government is simply dysfunctional... The prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, and the UPA chair-person, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, who are directly accountable for the mess, are hiding away from the media for years now [in fact, I highly doubt if the main-stream media would even take up issues that upset them, something which they have never done so far]. And the highly irritating Congress spokesmen (and women) who appear almost every day on talk shows (rather verbal WWE) have absolutely no listening skills, and foolishly keep pointing fingers elsewhere saying –“Ok… we (Congress-ies) all are dogs; but what about others being donkeys and calling themselves lions???”   
   
Amidst this grim scenario of the present Government of India, the thing that disheartens me more is how BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is acting. In fact it does not act, it only reacts. The only other pragmatic option that any Indian has for replacing Congress at center is the BJP. But the party does not have its basics right. It simply lacks a strong leader at center. Its standard response is –“We all are lions; and after hunting those dogs (in elections) we shall decide the king”. 


My response to them: 
Arre bhai, haven’t you heard that story? 
A group of lions led by none 
gets defeated by the group of dogs led by one. 


The leadership matters. The reason why you lost last election is mainly because of your poor prime ministerial candidate choice, Mr. Advani. With all due respect, that person simply does not have the charisma of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Some people are suggesting Narendra Modi’s name. Frankly, if India has a system of primary elections (within party) for BJP’s prime ministerial candidacy like the US has for president-ship, quite undoubtedly, Modi would win it (as pointed out by Swapan Dasgupta). However, keeping in mind India’s diversity, international relations, and how Modi is perceived nationwide, that maybe an extremely fatal step. The Congress’ campaign will be completely negative and the entire liberal-class will join-in naming him “Hitler” & “Merchant of death”; and your total energy will be lost into defending him rather than targeting Congress for its mis-governance and massive corruptions. Reserve him for the future though, as public perceptions may change over time. For the present, how about someone like Sushma Swaraj, or Arun Jaitley? Ms. Swaraj definitely has a public appeal; and her assertiveness will suit to your hard-liner supporters as well. Also, India hasn’t had a female prime minister for a few decades now. On the other hand, Mr. Jaitley is well known for his intellectual sharpness. Though he has not fought any Lok Sabha election, but what’s wrong with a prime minister from Rajya Sabha? If any of these two take a complete charge of the party, and if entire BJP carry out coherent attack on the government, we may very well see early elections, may be within an year. 


Another big fault-line in BJP is the mismatch between ideology and actions. Ideologically, it claims to be a nationalistic, progressive, and pro-market (and minimum government interference) party. However, it behaves as an opportunistic one. A few examples:
• When Vajpayee was in power, the relations with the US significantly improved despite the nuclear tests. It would have been his government’s top priority to convince the Americans that India is ready for civil nuclear deal. However, when BJP set in opposition, it vehemently opposed the deal.
• Fact that a party which talks about including private players and opening up markets can oppose opening up of retail sector is simply not digestible.
• Again in Vajpayee era, Indo-Pak relations improved dramatically despite the Kargil war and attacks on parliament. But, now BJP completely opposes even to have dialogs with Pakistan. Why this mood-swing?   


Despite innumerous loopholes the government is surviving only because the opposition is not addressing its inner fault-lines. At state level, BJP led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) governments are doing a much better job whether it is in Gujarat, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh or Karnataka (more info: http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/NDA-states-better-than-Cong-led-states/254/29560/) as compared to congress-led states. However, if BJP wants to secure its position at national level, it has to fix its house in order first. It seems that BJP has realized that inclusive developmental politics is the key. No nonsense issues like Temple & Mosque anymore, please... Let’s focus on Human Development Index and Knowledge Development Index. If you still want to argue, let’s educate all, improve health of all, and ameliorate everyone’s life-style, first, and then we can continue arguments like the developed nations do.