Symptoms of Deep Rooted Malaise

The rebel face of Nehru-Gandhi clan Varun Gandhi has once again landed himself in trouble. Election Commission has taken a strong objection to his anti-minority remarks. While the Election Commission and the district administration have declared Varun guilty, the Bharatiya Janata Party could not afford to stand for this poster boy who was always seen as a prize catch by the BJP against India’s first dynastic family.

With general elections round the corner, the BJP refused to stand by Varun Gandhi and instead preferred to dissociate itself from the statement. As a matter of fact, the party even refused permission to Varun Gandhi for holding a press conference at the party headquarters on the issue. The young leader’s uneasiness was evident when he was addressing the newspersons at his mother’s residence. While denying the remarks, he also said in a tongue-in-cheek statement that he has always followed the party philosophy of protecting the Hindus.

The question is that in today’s political culture of invectives, character assassination and war rhetoric why only blame the young Gandhi scion who just seems to have got carried in his over zeal to be in the good books of the party leadership. From Kalyan Singh to Lalji Tendon, and Sadhvi Rithambhara to Praveen Togadia, everyone has tried to reap the benefits of hate speeches in the land of Uttar Pradesh, where the banks of holy river Saryu have seen enough political bloodshed in the name of protecting the community and religion.

However, what makes the act of Varun Gandhi all the more unfortunate is that he represents the young face of a resurgent India. Are we seeing the emergence of Gen-next Narendra Modi? At least, Varun Gandhi does not seem to be cut out to fit into that role. He could have easily positioned himself in the league where some of the young politicians have of late shown tremendous amount of potential in terms of transforming the socio-polity of the country. This new breed of young guns are sophisticated, know their subject and constituency, connect better with the young India and have done reasonably well in whatever limited opportunity they may have got. A Jyotiraditya Scindia, a Milind Deora or a Rahul Gandhi, all have displayed potential to connect better with the new India than the so-called grassroot politicians who believe character assassination and inciting mob attracts more to their electorate.

The act of the Varun Gandhi is more of a deep rooted malaise in the Indian politics in general and the BJP in particular. Isn’t it true that the same young leader was earlier hailed by the party for some of his remarks which can not be termed decent for an emerging politician? Had the Election Commission not taken an objection this time, probably Varun would not have even realized as to how far he marched in the politics of hatred and invectives.

While the BJP has distanced and dissociated with the remarks as it doesn’t suit their elections and the allies, there are others who are ready to glorify the speech as it fits into their brand of politics. And this is where Varun Gandhi needs to do some introspection over his positioning within the framework of the emerging Indian politics in general and the BJP in particular. He has to understand that the BJP of today is no more the BJP of ‘80s era. It was an altogether different party and culture with no taste to power and only a symbolic Muslim face in the unit, that too in the backseat. The BJP of today has to accommodate with the alliance partners who may not subscribe hard-hitting communal overtones, because of their electoral compulsions in the state politics.

Amateur politicians like Varun Gandhi can easily be made scapegoat to pacify and win back alliance partners like the JD(U) or the BJD. Added to this, there are more Muslim faces in the party like Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Shahnawaj Hussain, who have tasted power, are vocal and media friendly. They will not feel shy of giving a piece of their mind in the event of communal overtones. Therefore, an ideal positioning for this young and ambitious leader would be that of a sophisticated and educated youth leader, someone who is an alternative to the youth faces within the Congress party.

Changing the political philosophy and overtones of one Varun Gandhi may not cleanse the Indian politics. After all, he represents the mere symptom of a deep rooted malaise. But Varun Gandhi has to make a choice as to whether he wants to reposition himself in the Indian politics and take a leap into New Age politics. May be those roads less traveled by, in the words of Robert Frost, make all the difference in Indian Politics in general and Varun Gandhi’s political fortunes in particular.