The foot-in-the-mouth lapses by senior BJP leaders who comprise the second and third rank in the party’s hierarchy are becoming too frequent to ignore. Not only are these proving an embarrassment, but also are quite unnecessary. Be it the arrogance displayed by senior Madhya Pradesh Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya regarding the water pollution deaths in Indore, or the Uttarakhand Minister Rekha Arya’s husband speaking derogatively about women from Bihar, they are letting down the party in its campaign to find firmer roots, particularly in the South.
Also, the sophisticated response required in matters such as the allegations regarding Ankita Bhandari’s death, or that of Angel Chakma, has not been witnessed. Instead, there has been nitpicking on petty issues, rather than the necessary confidence that should have been displayed by those who claim innocence. Whichever direction these controversies may take politically, the more distant people are from Uttarakhand, the more certain they are about the narrative that has built up around these two incidents. While Uttarakhand’s reputation as a tourism, educational and religious destination does not depend too much on politics, it cannot afford much more mishandling of this kind in the future.
Nobody who knows the people of the state can claim that there is inherent misogyny or racism among its people. But the leadership seems too busy to address the dent in Uttarakhand’s reputation. With the growing aggressiveness being displayed by the right-wing affiliates of the party that are seeking areas to be accessible only to Hindus in the state, such as in Haridwar, the party will lose support among its strongest base, the middle class. It must not be forgotten that Indians today live in every part of the world at present and can face similar discrimination in response. In fact, that is already happening and not just in Trump’s America.
It may be noted, in contrast, how ‘moderate’ voices in the Congress are catching the nation’s attention, such as Shashi Tharoor, as against the extreme approach adopted by party leader Rahul Gandhi. It may a natural democratic balancing out but the BJP has much more to lose.
And it is not as if BJP lacks the talent – its national level spokespersons, such as Shehzad Poonawalla, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Sambit Patra, etc., do a good job in defending the party’s ideology. They should be asked, perhaps, to train the rank and file on better articulation. Also, the public awaits what action will be taken against the deviant loudmouths.
