Editor in Chief : SARAH WILLIAMSCONTENTSRESOURCES
EXCLUSIVE STORYBJP CRISIS MANAGEMENT IS POOR
In an ideal world, the mood at the BJP National Council meet in Mumbai this week should have been celebratory. The NDA's thumping win over Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar coupled with the party's silver jubilee, should have been an occasion for the saffron faithful to look to the future with some excitement.
Unfortunately, despite the lavish arrangements in Mumbai and the accompanying razzmatazz, it is likely that the mood will be somewhat subdued. At an immediate level, there are four reasons for the prevailing sense of disorientation.
First, the two journalistic sting operations, Operation Duryadhona and Operation Chakravahyuhas devastated the BJP much more than any other party. The images of party MPs taking bribes while flanked by portraits of the RSS founder Dr K B Hedgewar and Guruji M S Golwalkar have had a crippling effect on the morale of the faithful.
What has compounded the emotional devastation is the revelation that at least three of the errant MPs were former RSS pracharaks. In other words, it is not merely the BJP's claim to be a "party with a difference" that has been affected, the reputation of the RSS as a proponent of ethical politics has been sullied.
The self-image and the self-confidence of the entire Sangh Parivar is today at a low ebb. The whole gamut of issues revolving around ethics in public life need to be addressed.
Second, with L K Advani announcing his resignation in controversial circumstances at the Chennai National ...
