India: The Sangh Parivar weeklies call the BJP’s electoral mandate the crossing of a crucial milestone

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/view-from-the-right-mission-nation/

View from the right: Mission nation

by Ravish Tiwari | May 22, 2014

SUMMARY

The Sangh Parivar weeklies call the BJP’s electoral mandate the crossing of a crucial milestone on the path of national reconstruction.

MISSION NATION

The Sangh Parivar weeklies call the BJP’s electoral mandate the crossing of a crucial milestone on the path of national reconstruction. “With the first task… over, the real mission is to ensure execution of national reconstruction. BJP is not like any other political party. It is in politics for a larger mission of building powerful and prosperous (sic) with strong foundation of cultural nationalism,” declares the cover story in the Organiser.

While the editorial in Panchjanya sees the BJP’s mandate as the arrival of “spring”, the Organiser editorial suggests the application of the spirit behind the “Congress Free India” slogan: “The slogans of ‘Congress Free India’ and Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas have specific complementary connotations. Making Congress-free India does not mean eliminating all the Congressmen but eliminating the dynastic, divisive and detrimental (sic) to development politics…”

The cover stories decoding the mandate in both weeklies inadvertently expose the geographical limitations of the mandate. Region-wise Lok Sabha victories suggest the NDA has not been able to make much inroad into eastern India.

DYNASTY’S FALL

Both weeklies also underscore the waning influence of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in national politics, while highlighting the ascendance of saffron politics. “Having dominated politics in the world’s largest democracy, Congress’s worst performance and humiliating defeat in the 16th Lok Sabha election is a stinging slap for India’s first family. It not only reflects that the reverence for the Gandhi family is ebbing, it also indicates that the Congress party is facing decline,” claims an article in the Organiser.

“It was an irony then that Rahul Gandhi, who was to lead the Congress party during the election campaign, had to finally call his sister Priyanka to campaign in Amethi and preserve the family honour,” underlines the report, to suggest that “In changing times, gen-x which at the blink of an eye replaces cars and mobile handsets in its search for advancements, can also bring in a desirable change by using their right to vote and such a change should be gracefully accepted as part and parcel of democracy by the first family of India”.

REMOTE WORSHIP

With the BJP’s victory being credited to the active participation of RSS cadres, both weeklies have carried articles suggesting the RSS neither believes in “hero worship” nor exercises “remote control” over the BJP. An article by ideologue M.G. Vaidya, in both publications, rejects suggestions of the RSS encouraging Narendra Modi’s hero worship, but justifies Modi’s larger-than-life projection for the elections: “RSS adopted a style that never had any place for hero-worship, and the organisation has never practised personality cult,” Vaidya argues, and adds, “I wish to state that an election is a special occasion. It needs an icon to attract voters and Narendra Modi is that icon. And choosing him has proved fruitful”.

An accompanying article justifies top BJP leaders calling on the RSS top brass to apprise them of the work after the elections: “There is nothing wrong in Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh apprising the Sangh… There must be and should be a sense of responsibility… The responsibility is threefold. After election, they are firstly responsible to Parliament. Fulfilling expectations of people is the second… and third responsibility is towards nation. Sangh represents this nation,” argues the article, contrasting its influence on the BJP with the Gandhi family’s control over the UPA government: “Sonia Gandhi’s remote control has been extra-constitutional and therefore detrimental to democracy… crushing the national pride and creating a colonial mindset…”

Compiled by Ravish Tiwari