CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION - Shodhgangashodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/66844/5/05_chapter...

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The Bharatiya Janata Party came into being in 1980. But since the

1990s, the BJP has become a force to re~n with. The party has not only

been able to posit itself as an opposition political party, it has also been able

to be in power in the centre as well as in some of the states in alliance with

other political parties, mostly regional. The BJ P's rise to prominence was

the defining feature of the Indian politics during the 90s of the last century.

It is well known that the party's increasing prominence in the national

level governance created opportunities for it to expand in regions which

remained inaccessible to the BJP so far. "The BJP's Organizational origins

are associated with the historical development of Hindu nationalist politics in

the East."1 The founding President of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the

forerunner party to the BJP, was Shyama Prasad Mookherjee, "a prominent

member of the Bengali bhadralok who, at its inception, led a significant

group from eastern India within the party. However, by the mid-1950s the

party had lost ground in electoral and organizational terms in the region--

most especially in West Bengal."2

In West Bengal, the communal political parties have not been able to

make much headway. In the first Lok Sabha election held in the year 1952,

the Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the Bharatiya Janata Party, got only 2

seats and 12 in the Bid han Sabha. But, after the death of Dr Mukherjee, the

Jana Sangh could not influence the Bengal politics much. Hindu

organizations like the RSS, VHP etc. tried to spread their tentacles in

several places but failed to impress the Bengali mind or politics.

Subsequently, as a reaction to the imposition of the emergency by the then

Congress Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, the Janata Party, an amalgamation

of several political parties, emerged on the political firmament of India. Jana

Sangh decided to get itself merged with the Janata Party. But the issue of

Problems and prospects of the BJP in West Bengal 0 2

dual membership forced the Janasanghis to come out of the Janata Party

and form a new one called the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Meanwhile, in the year 1977, the Left Front came to power in West

Bengal. The people of West Bengal being politically very conscious and

secular minded, the BJP could not influence the people of West Bengal

either politically or organizationally. It was only in 1998 when the Party

made an alliance with the Trinamool Congress that the Party got a foothold

in West Bengal. The Party could secure one Lok Sabha seat from

DumDum. The Party could even send its only representative to the Bidhan

Sabha in a by-election. Surprisingly, the Party could capture two seats in

the 1999 Lok Sabha election, Dum Dum and Krishnanagar. It should be

kept in mind that the BJP in West Bengal concentrated all its efforts in the

border areas to build its organization among the Bangladeshi Hindu

refugees. In 2001? the alliance between the BJP and the Trinamool

Congress got snapped and the BJP was forced to contest elections on its

own but failed to secure any seat. Again, in 2003, the BJP and the

Trinamool forged an alliance but the Party fared very badly in all elections

held thereafter. In the Lok Sabha election held in 2004, and in the Bidhan

Sabha election held in 2006 in West Bengal, the party could not secure any

seat. Moreover, its percentage share of votes got reduced drastically. In the

2009 Lok Sabha election,the party was able to secure the Darjeeling seat

with the help of the Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha, a political outfit in the

Darjeeling District, spearheading a movement for separate statehood for

Darjeeling. The BJP's performance in the 2008 Panchayat election has

also been very dismal compared to the previous elections.

Against this background, what has been done in the pages that

follow is to analyse the problems and the prospects of the BJP in West

Bengal in the light of the data collected during field survey carried out in the

two Blocks of the District of Burdwan, West Bengal, namely, Burdwan

Block-1 and Purbasthali Block-1 on the basis of a number of questions

related to the BJP's political agenda and its policies. It may be pointed out


here that this type of research work on the said topic has not been

undertaken by anyone in West Bengal.

Objectives of the Study

This study is aimed at analysing the problems and the prospects of the BJP

in West Bengal. We may formulate the main objectives of this study as

under:

1) To study ~he circumstances that led to the emergence of the

Bharatiya Janata Party.

2) To study the ideological framework of the party.

3) To study the issues and the policies of the BJP.

4) To study the organizational structure and the programmes and

policies of the BJP in West Bengal.

5) To study the electoral performance of the BJP in West Bengal.

6) To study the responses of the respondents of the two Blocks to the

core issues of the BJP, like, Religion-based politics, Babri Masjid

demolition, Hindu Rashtra, construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya

etc forming the core of the ideology of the BJP.

7) To study the responses of the respondents of the two Blocks to the

BJP's stand on the Bangladeshi infiltration, the most important issue

of the BJP in West Bengal.

8) To study the responses of the respondents of the two Blocks to

questions like, whether the BJP is a communal political party, the

future of the BJP in West Bengal, whether there is any alternative to

the Left Front Government in West Bengal, whether the BJP is a

political front of the RSS etc.

9) To study the problems faced by the BJP in West Bengal.

1 0) To study the prospects of the BJP in West Bengal.

Research Methodology

"Methodology means science of method as well as a body of

methods or systematic procedures and techniques required to be followed

for accomplishing an activity. So methodology of research implies the body


of methods, that is, procedures and techniques of collection, organization,

analysis and evaluation of data or facts, which should be mastered and

followed in order to execute research"3.

In order to execute research properly, one is required to follow a

distinct and well-specified research methodology. In an empirical and micro

level study, the importance of both the primary and secondary sources of

data cannot be ignored. Data have been collected through primary sources

like observation, interview as well as from secondary sources like books,

journals, newspapers, unpublished thesis etc. Besides, books, journals,

newspapers, leaflets, reports etc. published by the BJP have also been

made use of.

Respondents of both the CD Blocks have been selected by random

sampling method for interview and both the structured and unstructured

questionnaires have been used to elicit their responses.

Data collected thus have been processed and analysed. Every effort

has been made to ensure the veracity of the data. Last of all, the

hypotheses have been tested on the basis of the collected data and the

truthfulness or falsity of the hypotheses has been determined and changes

made wherever necessary.

Hypotheses

Hypothesis is a statement regarding the reality which may be either

true or false. "It is an assumption-based statement of a proposition or a

reason.able guess which the researcher seeks to prove through his study."4

"Without hypothesis research may become unfocussed and a random

search for data much of which turning out as useless or superfluous" 5 The

present study intends to test the following hypotheses.

1) The people of West Bengal, being politically very conscious and

secular-minded, do not support the ideology of the BJP and hence

want a secular Government in power.


2) The Leftist and the Secular political parties in West Bengal are the

major stumbling blocks on the path of the BJP's becoming a force to

reckon with in West Bengal.

3) Whatever base the BJP has in West Bengal is found to be among the

Hindus, especially the Bangladeshi Hindu refugees, not among the

Muslim minorities, the SCs and the STs and the people not affiliated to

any political party.

4) The people of West Bengal do not consider the BJP as an alternative

to the Left Front Government.

Review of Literature

A turning point in Indian politics is the meteoric rise of the Bharatiya

Janata Party to the national political scene. Expectedly, the efforts made by

the BJP to occupy the political center-stage caused a lot of academic

interest, as a result of which, a plethora of literature dealing with the

ideology, leadership, organization, electoral performance of the BJP saw

the light of the day. B.D. Graham's Hindu Nationalism and Indian Politics:

The Origins, and Development of the Jana Sangh 6, and Craig Baxter's The

Jana Sangh: A Biography of an Indian Political Party 7, were devoted to the

Jana Sangh the predecessor of the BJP. An authoritative book on the BJP

is the The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925s to the

1990s authored by Christrophe Jaffrelot 8. In this book, Jaffrelot has made

an attempt to construct a model of Hindu Nationalist Strategies taking

specially Madhya Pradesh into account. Another book of importance is

Hindu Nationalists in India : The Rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party

authored by Yogendra K Malik and V B Singh. 9 The book deals with the

ideology, the heritage, the organization, the leadership, the strategies,

policies and issue orientations, electoral performance, problems, prospects

of the BJP. Gita Puri's 10 Hindutva Politics in India: Genesis, Political

Strategies, and Growth of Bharatiya Janata Party is mainly based on the

analysis of the BJP's documents. The book is an attempt to understand the

origins and the subsequent social and geographical expansion of the party

since it's coming into being in 1980 to 1998. C P Bhambhri's 11 Bharatiya


Janata Party : Peripheri to Centre critically deals with the ideology,

organizational structure, electoral performance, strategies, changing social

base, the party in Government, foreign policy outlook of the BJP. The book

also explains the reasons for the growth of the BJP. The main objective of

the book, according to the author, is to find out the social factors which

helped the BJP to emerge from a periphery to center. Another critical book

on BJP is The RSS and the BJP: A Division of labour written by A G

Noorani. 12 The book exposes the calculated ambiguity resorted to by the

Sangh Parivar while, in reality, a division of labour exists between the RSS

and the BJP.

Hindu Nationalism: A Reader edited by Christrophe Jaffrelot 13 is

another important book which deals with the history of Hindu Nationalism

and issues which occupy major positions within Hindu nationalism central to

the practice of the Hindutva movement. Dr Partha Banerjee 14, a former

member of the Sangh Parivar, has written a book called In the Belly of the

Beast: The Hindu Supermacist RSS and BJP of India. In this book, Dr

Banerjee critically discusses the Sangh Parivar organizations and deals with

such issues like the future of the Indian secularism and democracy as well

as human rights, women's rights and minority rights. According to the

author, the book is a reminder of the responsibilities of the citizens of India

for the future of a progressive and secular India

Coalition Politics and Hindu Nationalism edited by Katharine Adeney

and Lawrence Saez15 is a collection of articles, which examine the

emergence of the Bharatiya Janata Party in India, and the ways in which its

Hindu nationalist agenda have been affected by the constraints of being a

dominant member of a coalition government. Making India Hindu : Religion,

Community and the Politics of Democracy in India edited by David Ludden 16

is another important book on Hindu nationalism. Conceived in the aftermath

of the Babri Masjid demolition, this book elucidates genealogies, politics and

effects of Hindu majoritarianism. This book indicates that Hinduvta is here to

stay, despite its precarious fortunes, small minority support and a long

history of sitting on the sidelines. Another book worth mentioning here is A

Problems and prospects ofthe BJP in West Bengal 0 7

New Era In The Indian Polity: A Study of Atal Behari Vajpayee and the BJP

by G N S Raghavan 17. This book is found to be sympathetic to the BJP and

portrays Vajpayee as a leader comparable to Jawaharlal Nehru and who is

able to rectify the socially divisive policies and to correct the elitist course of

economic development thereby showing to the world that there is an

alternative to the Marxist and the Capitalist models of economic

development.

Hindu Nationalism And Governance edited by John McGuire and lan

Copland 18 is a book which deals with the BJP's governance. The book

shows the recasting of the core elements of the ideology of the BJP in order

to be the dominant member of a coalition government. The book also sheds

light on the reasons for the slow progress of the Hindu right after the 2004

Lok Sabha election defeat and tells us that the BJP will be required to

balance the demands of the RSS with its need for regional allies in its quest

for power in the long run. Partha Ghosh 19 in his book BJP and the evolution

of Hindu Nationalism : periphery to center deals with the historical

background of the BJP, its rise to power, its ideology and political agenda,

economic policy and foreign policy. The author expresses the hope that the

future of India does not rest with BJP's Hindutva or on secularism as

enshrined in our constitution but it lies in the hands of people. So long as

plurality is there, nobody can harm the Indian society.

Achin Vanaik20, in his book, Communalism Contested: Religion,

Modernity and Secularization provides an analysis of the dramatic rise of

Hindu communalism and the growing cynicism about the importance of the

secularism and secularization. Professor Vanaik suggests in his book that a

powerful, organized Left and Women's movement together can only ensure

secularism and secularization.

Besides the books stated above, we can also mention some articles

dealing with the BJP. In an article entitled, 'The BJP's Onward March', Atal

Behari Vajpayee21 deals with the history behind the emergence of the BJP.

He speaks about the nationalist agenda of the Jana Sangh, the predecessor

of the BJP. According to Vajpayee, the Ayodhya movement in which Sri


Ram occupied the center stage, epitomized the cultural heritage of all

Indians, cultural nationalism and unleashed the suppressed aspirations of

the Indians and canalized their nationalist fervour towards nation building. In

the article, Vajpayee goes to the extent of saying that the BJP is dedicated

to the Ram Rajya meaning good governance and that the BJP believes in a

kind of society where every individual, irrespective of caste, religion or sex,

will be equal.

Achin Vanaik22, in an article entitled, 'Communalization of the Indian

Polity' discusses critically how the BJP attempted to fill the space left by the

Congress through communal politics. Professor Vanaik characterizes the

BJP and its affiliates as the practitioners of the fascist politics by inventing

the enemy 'other' and also highlights the dangers the communal politics

poses to the plural democracy in India.

In an article called, The challenge of Hindu Nationalism : The

Bharatiya Janata Party in Contemporary Indian Politics', Bruce 0 Graham23

dwells on the BJP's origins, doctrines and policies and its strategies and

electoral performance and its meteoric rise banking on its rightward policies

and strategies.

So far as West Bengal is concerned, there are some writings on the

BJP in West Bengal. One such writing is an article entitled , 'BJP's rise as a

mass force' by Ajit Roy 24. In this article, Roy draws our attention to the rise

of the BJP as a mass force in West Bengal in the 1991 Lok Sabha election

and opines that in terms of electoral gain, the electoral performance of the

BJP helped the Left Front by splitting the Congress vote, but in terms of

politics, it posed a great danger to the Left and progressive forces, being the

forces of combined social and political reaction. In an article entitled, 'BJP in

1998 Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal-Transformation of Opposition

Politics', M.Gillan25 discusses the electoral performance, campaign features

and the contributions of the social forces which led to shape the BJP in

West Bengal as an opposition political party. Professor Gillan also states

that the BJP has arrived in West Bengal state politics but the question

remains as to whether the party has made any social and ideological


inroads or it is a result of a convergence of a number of short-term political

forces.

In a booklet entitled, Democracy in Peril: A Quarter Century Of

CPI(M)'s Fraud andTerror Raj In West Bengal, Tathagata Roy 26, the former

President of the West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party talks about

the fraud and terror by utilizing which the Left Front government in West

Bengal has been in power so far. In another booklet entitled, Da/ 0 Rajniti

(in Bengali), the General Secretary and now the President of the party,

Rahul Sinha 27 stresses the need to create a mentality to carry forward the

party organization in all spheres through the creation of efficient Karyakarta.

Another booklet called, Dalke Panchayat Mukhi 0 Panchayatke Oaf Mukhi

Karun (in Bengali), authored by Amalesh Mishra 28, deals with the nitty-gritty

of the Panchayat system and the need for taking part in this system in order

to gain foothold in rural West Bengal. In a booklet entitled, Voter Rajniti,

Rajnitir Vote (in Bengali), Rahul Sinha 29 has discussed the need for having

knowledge about the techniques of conducting elections and the need for

getting the party workers trained in the tricks of the parties in power. In

another booklet named, Baktabyer Rahasyabhed (in Bengali), Rahul

Sinha30 has stressed the need for delivering good speech. Mr Sinha opines

that the people like to hear appropriate speeches from the leaders. He has

put emphasis on the creation of good speakers in a planned way so as to

root out the forces that try to destroy the sovereignty of the country and also

to drive away the dustbin called the communists.

CHAPTERIZATION

So far as the contents of the study are concerned, they have been

divided into eight chapters. The 'introduction' chapter deals with the

objectives of the study, the hypotheses, the methodology, the review of the

existing literature on the BJP and the Sangh Parivar and the chapterization

of the whole study.

The second Chapter deals with the causes of the emergence of the

Bharatiya Janata Party. This chapter also dwells on the factors which led


the RSS to think about the formation of a political party - first the Jana

Sangh and then the BJP.

The third Chapter is devoted to analysing the ideological framework

of the BJP. In this chapter, it has been shown that ideologically, the BJP is

bound with the Hindutva ideology of the RSS. The BJP's main ideological

objective is to establish the Hindu Rashtra in India as perceived by

Savarkar, Hedgewar and Golwalkar.

The fourth Chapter deals with the issues and the policies of the BJP.

In this chapter, the issues and the policies of the BJP have been critically

looked at.

The fifth Chapter deals with the organizational structure,

programmes, electoral performances of the BJP in West Bengal and also its

stand on Bangladeshi infiltration.

The sixth Chapter is devoted to discussing the socio-economic and

administrative profile of the District of Burdwan and its two Blocks-

Burdwan-1 and Purbasthali-1. Here it should be mentioned that although in

the title of the Thesis, the Purbasthali-1 Block precedes the Burdwan-1 Block,

the present researcher has analysed the Burdwan-1 Block first followed by

the Purbasthali-1 owing to the relative importance of the former in his entire

study. This chapter also discusses the organizational structure and the

electoral performances of the BJ P both in the District and in the two Blocks.

The seventh Chapter deals with the findings of the field survey of the

two Blocks. This chapter analyses the responses of the respondents of the

two Blocks to the questionnaire put before them during field survey.on the

basis of variables like, gender, religion, caste, economic status and political

affiliation etc. The reasons put forward by the respondents of the two Blocks

in support of their views have also been analysed in a comparative manner.

Finally, the eighth Chapter, that is, the 'conclusion' chapter is

devoted to the summing up of the entire study. This chapter provides the

people's perception of the BJP and the summary and the assessment of the

results of the survey in its entirety. Here, the problems and the prospects of

the BJP in West Bengal have been studied analytically on the basis of the

findings of the two Blocks.


References

1. John McGuire and lan Copland (ed~, Hindu Nationalism And Governance,

p. 35.

2. Ibid.

3. A K Ohdedar, Research Methodology, p. 6.

4. Ibid., p. 26.

5. Ibid.

6. B D Graham, Hindu Nationalism and Indian Politics, The Origins and

Development of the Jan a Sangh.

7. Craig Baxter, The Jana Sangh: A Biography of an Indian Political Party.

8. Christrophe Jaffrelot, The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics

- 1925 to the 1990s.

9. Yogendra K Malik and VB Singh, Hindu Nationalists in India- The Rise

of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

10. Geeta Puri, Hindutva Politics in India, Genesis, Political Strategies and

Growth of Bharatiya Janata Party.

11. C P Bhambhri, Bharatiya Janata Party- Periphery to Centre.

12. A G Noorani, The RSS and the BJP- A Division of Labour.

13. Christrophe Jaffrelot (ed.), Hindu Nationalism: A Reader.

14. Partha Banerjee, In the Belly of The Beasts: The Supermacist RSS And

BJP of India- An Insiders View.

15. Katharine Adeney and Lawrence Saez ( ed.), Coalition Politics and Hindu

Nationalism.

16. David Ludden (ed), Making India Hindu: Religion Community and the

Politics of Democracy in India.

17. G N S Raghavan, A New Era in The Indian Polity- A Study of Atal Bihari

Vajpayee and the BJP.

18. John McGuire and lan Copland, (ed~, Hindu Nationalism and

Governance.

19. Ghosh, Partha, S. BJP and the evolution of Hindu Nationalism - From

Periphery to Centre.

20. Achin Vanaik, Communalism Contested: Religion, Modernity and

Secularization.

21. Atal Behari Vajpayee, 'The BJP's Onward March' Frontline, August 22,

1997.


22. Achin Vanaik, 'Communalization of the Indian Polity', in Peter Ronald de

Souza and E Sridharan (ed~ India's Political Parties.

23. Bruce D Graham, 'The Challenge of Hindu Nationalism: The Bharatiya

Janata Party in Contemporary Indian Politics', in Peter Ronald de Souza

and E Sridharan (ed) India's Political Parties.

24. Ajit Roy, BJP's Rise as a Mass Force, Economic and Political Weekly,

June 29, 1991, Vol. XXVI, No. 26.

25. Michael Gillan, 'BJP in 1998 Lok Sabha Elections in West Bengal:

Transformation of Opposition Politics', in Economic and Political Weekly,

September 5-12, 1998.

26. Tathagata Roy, Democracy In Peril.

27. Rahul Sinha, Oaf 0 Rajniti (in Bengali).

28. Amalesh Mishra, Dalke Panchayat Mukhi 0 Panchayatke Oaf Mukhi

Karun (in Bengali).

29. Rahul Sinha, Voter Rajniti, Rajnitir Vote (in Bengali).

30. Rahul Sinha, Baktabyer Rahasyabhed (in Bengali).

---'0'---

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION - Shodhgangashodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/66844/5/05_chapter...

Documents

Transcript of CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION - Shodhgangashodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/66844/5/05_chapter...