The Hindu : BJP's rout complete

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 11, 2002

National

National

BJP's rout complete

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI OCT. 10. The Bharatiya Janata Party's humiliation at the hustings in Jammu and Kashmir was complete and party leaders virtually admitted as much. However, they tried to explain it away by saying that the elections were not about party politics but a fight between Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and Indian democracy, and certainly the results had once again proved the strength of the free and fair ballot in India.

The party president, Venkaiah Naidu, and the spokesperson, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre had fulfilled its democratic commitment by ensuring a free, fair, transparent and successful election in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP did not see the results in terms of victory and defeat for individual parties, but as a resounding victory for Indian democracy. Also, the results would have no impact on the Centre, and as for its relationship with the National Conference (NC), "it was between the NC and the NDA'', Mr. Naqvi said.

Privately, BJP leaders conceded that the rout resulted from three factors — the BJP maintained a cosy relationship with the NC at the Centre while it fought and opposed it in the State; it made an electoral arrangement with the RSS-backed Jammu State Morcha in its strongholds in the Jammu region to consolidate the Hindu vote, but that arrangement was undone by rebel candidates and the party's doublespeak on the trifurcation issue; and, finally, the BJP suffered intense factionalism between groups led by the Central Minister, Chamanlal Gupta, and State unit chief, Dayakrishan Kotwal.

Some BJP leaders also admitted that the Centre's inability to contain terrorism after all the rhetoric of giving the terrorists a "hot pursuit'', "proactive policies'' and "fight to the finish'' proved hollow. Security could not be provided to the people of the region, and the BJP ruling at the Centre could not escape the blame. "The party will have to do some introspection,'' a senior leader said, but officially the BJP refused to accept that it suffered because of the people's anger against the Centre for not delivering on promises to fight terrorism effectively.

Soon after the results started trickling in, Mr. Naidu was reported to have said that the BJP would not indulge in horse-trading and would sit in the opposition, but at the end of the day it had not much to trade on — the party had won just one seat in Nagrota against the eight it held in the outgoing Assembly.

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