BJP Bangalore Meeting

Sitaram Yechury

The BJP has emerged from its recently concluded National Executive meeting at Bangalore as a hydra-headed mon¬ster. Both in its political and economic resolutions, it clearly expressed its satisfaction with the present state of affairs. It, in fact, goes further to endorse this government’s complete lack of governance and ineptitude by stating that its performance was “best in a bad situation”.

Worse still, it actually provides a clean chit to the Gujarat government on the most violent communal attacks against the Christians and remains chillingly silent about the communal clashes and disturbances being fanned by its affiliates in Karnataka. The Prime Minister, taking a leaf out of Ms. Indira Gandhi’s tactics of blaming the foreign hand' for all negative consequences of her own policies, has gone to the extent of seeing a conspiracy to defame the government behind the attacks on the Christians. Surely, he would not have been unaware of the fact that the Gujarat government under popular pressure has belatedly arrested some people for the attacks against the Christians which included lead-ers of the various outfits of the Saffron Brigade in the Dangs district of South Gujarat. Leaders of his own party, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and the Hindu Jagran Manch have thus been indicted by the BJP government in the State. In what amounts to adding insult to injury, the National Executive resolutions hascomplemented’ the Gujarat government for taking `prompt action’. Nothing can be more nebulous and diabolic. Instead of chastising the Gujarat government, the BJP National Executive chose to exonerate the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal by advancing a preposterous theory that they have nothing to do with the Hindu Jagran Manch! This is a chilling reminder of the run up to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. Clearly the BJP has exposed itself, once again, as virtually patronising and protecting the Saffron Brigade to con¬tinue its rabid communal attacks against the Chris¬tians. This is confirmed by the findings of the Left parties delegation (published elsewhere in this issue) that visited the affected areas.

In this context, one must recollect that the Supreme Court, while upholding the dismissal of the BJP-ruled State governments in the post-Babri Masjid demolition context, observed that any “state government which pursues unsecular policies or unsecular course of action acts contrary to the Constitutional mandate and renders itself amenable to action under Article 356”. The Vaj¬payee government, all too eager to dismiss the Bihar government for political reasons only to be rebuffed correctly by the President, will do well to re-read this particular Supreme Court judgement which has defined secularism as a fundamental feature of our Constitution.

It is clear that following its massive defeat in the recent assembly elections, the Saffron Brigade has fallen back on intensifying the communal divide and whipping up hatred and passion as a weapon of political mobilisation. With elections in some states (Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa) due in the later half of this year, having failed to elicit popular support on any of its economic policies or performance of the Central government, the Saffron Brigade seems to rely on commu¬nal polarisation as its only basis for its political survival. It is precisely for this reason that it had chosen Bangalore as the venue of its meeting and it is precisely for this reason that it has whipped up contro¬versy and tensions relating to the centuries old Sufi shrine of Baba Budangiri in Chikmagalur. And, it is precisely for this reason that communal riots have erupted in Suratkal as the elections draw closer. One can expect, at tremendous cost to the unity and integri¬ty of India’s social fabric, escalation of such ten¬sions. The people have to pay the price through blood and death for the survival of the Saffron Brigade in government.

This is the manner in which the Saffron Brigade seeks to divert the people’s attention away from its total lack of governance, misrule, and the compounding of people’s miseries through its policies. That such diversion is necessary for its political survival becomes clear with the economic resolution adopted by the National Execu¬tive. In one stroke, the BJP has virtually endorsed all the disastrous economic policies pursued by the govern¬ment and has guaranteed that there shall be no opposi¬tion in future as well. Thus, finally sealing the coffin of `Swadeshi’. That this slogan was only meant to mislead the people, as repeatedly argued in these columns, stands now completely established. The Saffron Brigade and the BJP have come out with its true colours as the current representatives of the Indian ruling classes whose interests are its first priority to pro¬tect and advance. Having displayed earlier its com¬plete pro-US imperialist bias by virtually surrendering India’s interests, the BJP has now openly endorsed the mortgaging of our economic sovereignty, on the one hand, and heaping unprecedented burdens on the people, on the other.

The BJP National Executive has shamelessly endorsed the insurance and patent bills. There was not even a word of remorse given the fact that it was the BJP whose support to the Left’s opposition to these bills during the Congress regime prevented them from becoming legis¬lation so far. The massive plans for the privatisation of the public sector has been hailed. Free entry to multinational capital has been further liberalised. As for the people, save the rhetoric of the desire to control prices etc, there is not a single tangible proposal.

In this context, it is necessary to have a look at the state of the economy since the present government has taken over. The recessionary tendency has intensified. According to a survey conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the period April-October, 1998 compared to the same period in 1997, shows that out of 120 sectors accounting for more than 65 per cent of the total industrial output, production of 34 sectors showed a negative growth while 49 showed a growth of less than 10 per cent. In a situation where the inflation rate is hovering around 10 per cent, growth rates below 10 per cent, in effect, means a real negative growth rate. Thus, in more than two-thirds of the individual sector, there has been a real negative growth rate. Similarly, out of the 55 sectors surveyed for export growth, 38 reported real negative growth. Out of 77 sectors sur¬veyed for sales growth, 58 reported real negative growth rate. In all these aspects, less than 10 per cent showed a healthy growth. Thus, despite the unbridled liberali¬sation and fanfare associated with projecting a pro-industry bias of the present government, the state of the economy continues to sharply deteriorate.

On the external front, exports in dollar terms during this period declined by 5.1 per cent while non-oil imports increased by 18.7 per cent widening the trade deficit to a whopping $5.8 billion. The government has earned a respite due to a sharp fall in the internation¬al prices of oil and petroleum products. As a result, according to some estimates (Economic Times, December 12, 1998) the government is likely to have a windfall saving of Rs. 20,000 crores. Even after accounting for many other costs in the oil pool account, the government is likely to save nearly Rs. 15,000 crores or one per cent of the GDP. This amount of money rightly belongs to the people and should have been passed to the consum-er by reducing the prices of oil and petroleum products. By not doing so, the government is actually stealing people’s money and in all likelihood will use this to narrow its unmanageable fiscal deficit. The fiscal deficit bound to grow much higher than projected both due to a spurt in unnecessary government expenditures and the defence outlay following the Pokhran tests. The net result of all these would only lead to greater borrowing and reduction of government expenditure on social infrastructure like health, education etc. This, in turn, will strengthen the disastrous consequences of the liberalisation process, ie, further mortgaging our economic sovereignty and further burdening the people.

Thus, the BJP’s National Executive has not thrown up what many of its own supporters and admirers (though the numbers are fast dwindling) had hoped for. Instead of any attempt at applying corrective measures to least of all, restore a semblance of governance, the BJP Nation¬al Executive has virtually endorsed all that this gov¬ernment has been doing and adopted an audaciously absurd stance of saying that this is the best that the country and the people can get! The hype that this meeting is receiving in the media as a victory of the moderate' Vajpayee over thehard-liners’ is yet another mis¬chievous attempt to mislead the people. The hydra-headed monster always accommodates many faces and many shades. It is not the individual face or the shade that matters. All of them put together is what defines the monster and its destructive power. If anything, the “new found assertiveness” of Mr. Vajpayee is a sign of in¬creasing desperation of the Saffron Brigade. The mon¬ster in its restlessness is spewing communal venom and hatred to consolidate itself. And, unless contained by the Indian people, it can unleash uncontrollable de¬struction and disaster.