To expand, BJP needs to be inclusive

The BJP’s decision to hold the party’s two-day national executive meeting in Hyderabad was intended to convey the message that Telangana and South India were the next frontiers for the party to cross. It has its government in Karnataka, but other states have presented challenges to the party. The speeches made and the deliberations held at the meeting and the political resolution passed by it were oriented to this end. The contours of a strategy were also spelt out. At the rally held after the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar, indicating what one prong of the strategy would be. That is to emphasis the Hindu identity of the city and to de-emphasise its Nizam heritage, in line with the party’s general view of the country and its history. The Prime Minister also promised to fulfil the state’s needs and aspirations under a “double engine sarkar”. The reference to Sardar Patel made the plan complete.

The BJP’s Mission 2024 for the South has Telangana and Tamil Nadu as the first targets. The party wants to become the main Opposition in the states before capturing power, using the Congress’ weakness in the former and the problems within the AIADMK in the latter. The attack on dynastic politics is also part of the strategy. Families are dominant in the ruling parties of both states. The BJP has been paying more attention to regional parties recently because they have proved more resilient and presented stronger resistance to the party than the Congress.

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A wider organisational and political plan was also unveiled. That was seen in the Prime Minister’s call to the BJP workers to reach out to the deprived sections of society, including the minorities. The party has tried to implement the strategy in some states like UP and gained from it. Its recent by-election victories in UP’s Azamgarh and Rampur, where minority votes are decisive, have been seen in this context. The Prime Minister has also told party leaders and workers that they should undertake a ‘sneh yatra’ to bring about goodwill and harmony in society. Every party has the right to expand and reach out to more people, and the Prime Minister’s counsel is relevant at a time when there is a lot of hate mongering and polarisation of society on the basis of religion. Much of this social cleavage has been caused by the words and actions of BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders. The silence of leaders, including the Prime Minister, on sensitive matters has contributed to the alienation of minorities and increased divisiveness in society. The party has to grapple with the contradiction between its exclusivist and majoritarian ideology and its aspirations and claims to be inclusive and become a pan-India party.