JOIN USKulkarni said the BJP needed to rethink its approach towards Muslims, Hindutva, the poor, the RSS and itself. The BJP’s failure to convince the people on the need for a change was rooted in a combination of structural, political, ideological, organisational and campaign-related problems.
“On the top of all these, we had the Varun Gandhi episode, which, along with other factors, clearly led to the consolidation of Muslim votes in favour of the Congress in Uttar Padesh.”
“Never in the history of the Jana Sangh or the BJP was the party enfeebled by so much disarray at the top. The disorder at the centre and also in several states like Rajasthan, UP and Delhi demoralised the disunited party workers down the line with disastrous results,” he said.
“It is also true that Advani himself failed to assert his leadership at crucial points before and during the campaign,” he added. On BJP’s future, he said the BJP can indeed bounce back. “But it can do so only if it first renews and empowers itself comprehensively,” Kulkarni said.