Bihar polls: In quagmire of caste and money politics, has BJP given up its past ideals?

“He is new to the party,” the BJP said in response to its Ara MP RK Singh’s bombshell that party tickets are being sold to criminals and thugs in Bihar. There is an element of truth in the BJP’s response. The problem with Singh is that he is indeed new to the BJP. He doesn’t know that this is not the same BJP that once used to talk about honesty, probity and transparency - shuchita, pardarshita etc - in public life. From the party that wanted to be different, the BJP has turned into a party that isn’t much different from the Congress or the dynastic outfits run by the Yadavs, Badals in north India and the Ammas and Biddas in the south. [caption id=“attachment_2449644” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Like all political parties, the BJP contests elections only to win them. In pursuit of its electoral aim, it uses every element of Chanakya Neeti - saam, daam, dand and bhed - to influence the outcome. What is transpiring in Bihar is just another reminder that the BJP too uses the criteria perfected by other parties for ticket distribution. The basic criteria for choosing a candidate are well known. Caste is supreme. Money is equally important because not only is a candidate expected to fund his own election, but he is also expected to help other big leaders finance their campaigns. Loyalty and proximity to influential leaders or being related to someone high up in the party hierarchy is also an automatic qualification. In this model, a legacy of the Congress, an ordinary worker has very little chance of making the cut: he is expected only to roll out carpets, arrange chairs and raise slogans at party meetings and rallies. In the 1980s, when the BJP was trying to make inroads into politics, it tried to differentiate itself from the Congress culture by promising honesty and transparency in every aspect of politics, a formula Arvind Kejriwal was to reinvent two decades later. For almost a decade, it talked of principles and ideals, gave precedence to its cadre, karyakarta and RSS swayamsevak while distributing tickets and kept its doors locked for defectors from other parties. But its idealism jumped out of the window the moment power knocked on its door. The BJP showed first glimpse of its ability to strike ideological and political compromises when it allied with the Left parties to keep the Congress out of power in the 1989-90 elections. The minor aberration turned into a trend when its stalwart leader and founding member Bhairon Singh Shekhawat split the Janata Dal and embraced Congress rebels to save the Rajasthan government from falling after LK Advani was arrested in Bihar in the winter of 1990. A few years later, everybody witnessed the BJP’s farcical U-turn on former telecom minister Sukhram. In 1996, when Sukhram was caught with Rs 3.6 crore during raids on his home, the BJP stalled the Parliament for 13 days. But just two years later, it took the support of his Himachal Vikas Party to form the state government in a deadlocked Assembly (BJP: 31, Congress: 31, HVP:5). Even in 2014, when corruption was a major issue in the elections, the BJP didn’t think twice before inducting BS Yeddyurappa back into the party or giving tickets to tainted leaders like Sriramulu and turncoats like Sonaram (Rajasthan), Rao Inderjit Singh (Haryana) and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s relatives in Bihar. In Assam, it is now banking on a former Congress heavyweight Himanta Biswa Sarma and his co-defectors to win the impending election. The BJP’s record on corruption and compromises, obviously, has been dodgy. The emergence of a charismatic leader like Narendra Modi in politics is the ideal opportunity to cleanse elections of deep-rooted malaises. When the electorate decides to overlook candidates, castes and other equations because of its love and respect for the leader of a party, it is the right time to weed out corruption, casteism and criminality from the jungle of politics. Unfortunately, very few politicians can summon the courage to rise above the traditional constraints of realpolitik in the pursuit of power. Bihar is just a reminder that winning an election at any cost is the only thing that matters in Indian politics. Only those who are new to politics take time to learn this sad truth.