The Swamy problem: Has the BJP bitten off more than it can chew?

Given its potential prime ministerial candidate is a lightning rod for liberals and opponents are counting on him to gain minority community votes, was it the wisest decision by the BJP to induct in its ranks Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy? The BJP completed its merger yesterday and the Janata Party chief, possibly their only known face, was predictably happy with the union. Swamy spent Sunday on Twitter accepting  congratulatory messages,  denying that he ever had a rift with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and  claiming that the BJP was the true successor to the Jayaprakash Narayan movement of the 1970s. “I am very pleased that the President of BJP and the leaders of BJP have welcomed me into BJP as a part of the merger process,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_1026921” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A match made in heaven? PTI[/caption] The merger would make sense to the right wing groups that support the BJP. Swamy has an association with the RSS and Jan Sangh that stretches back to the 1970s and has waxed and waned over the decades. In more recent times he has been a loud and critical voice of dissent against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, despite at one time being the best of friends with Rajiv. However, it his tirades against the Muslim community, whether in speech or written word, that are extremely controversial even at the best of times. Sample a recent interview with India Today in which he explains how to ensure the electoral victory in the next national elections: “India is 80 per cent Hindu. If we rally the Hindu vote and wean away 7 per cent of the Muslim population to our side, we will win the elections. There are sharp divisions in the community. The Shias, Barelvis and Ahmadis are already aligned with the BJP. There’s nothing called a consolidated Muslim vote-bank. Look at the brutal persecution of Shias in Pakistan. The strategy should be clear. Unite the Hindus under one flag and divide the Muslims.” There have already been voices suggesting that for a party grappling with the lack of ability to convince the minorities that it cares about them, picking Swamy and more importantly allowing him to speak may be a liability. https://twitter.com/dhume01/status/366800684986810369 Dhume said it may even be a better idea for the BJP to merge with erstwhile Karnataka leader BS Yeddyurappa where upsides were more in number than downsides. The Janata Party president brings with him little more in an electoral battlefield than his gift of gab and an innate ability to get under the skin of the Congress. He could ensure that the core right wing constituency of the BJP remains stoutly behind it. But for the BJP that isn’t really a problem, they already have Modi to do that for them and with comments like being a ‘Hindu nationalist’ he’s already doing it. If the party is attempting to atone for its treatment of Swamy in the 1980s and attempt to present a more neutral face, the merger with Swamy is one that may bring more liabilities than the BJP might care for. But if the party is aiming to polarise voters, get in its ranks a critic then Swamy’s steadfastness on issues might help in the media race. Politically too, it is unlikely that Swamy will ensure any vote share impact in Tamil Nadu. In the final analysis it seems more like Swamy will benefit more from the BJP, than the other way around.