The world seems topsy-turvy. China has five per cent population owning 80 per cent of its wealth, 20 times more foreign investment than India, and no trade union or human rights. Hence the Indian Left calls it socialist. On the other hand, the BJP has real revolution. Following Trotskyji, it has launched a permanent revolution. In other words, it keeps revolving.
L.K. Advani is responsible for this. A farsighted visionary with insight, he foresaw that after a few years both he and Atal Behari Vajpayee would have crossed 100, and someone younger might, I repeat might, be leading the BJP. This shattering truth was a bolt from the blue for BJP leaders. The revolution started.
Venkaiah Naidu, Pramod Mahajan, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley leapt into action. This Gang of Four became the Gang of Foes. Each wanted to forge ahead and become prime minister after the few years had passed, and after the Congress was defeated, and after the BJP had won, and after the BJP had again formed the government. Revolutionaries have long vision.
Revolution thrives on hatred. They were the Gang of Four because they hated the Congress and Sonia Gandhi. They have become the Gang of Foes because they hate each other. But first the false pretenders must be eliminated. Venkaiah Naidu took care of that.
He encouraged Uma Bharati to launch her tiranga yatra after the court ordered her arrest. But soon the case against her was withdrawn. Too late! There was a new CM in place. She had to continue with the yatra. But if she couldn't be CM, why let her become See-Who-I-Am? Venkaiah made sure fewer and fewer people saw her yatra. Atal Behari won't attend your finale at Amritsar, he told Uma on the phone. Yes he would, retorted Uma. Expletives. Then both phones were banged down.
"I am leaving politics," Uma said next morning. "No I'm not," she said the same afternoon. I'll take a holiday from politics and tour the nation like Gandhi, she said. Err...not Sonia Gandhi but Mahatma Gandhi. Now the tiranga yatra truly has three colours. Uma shows one colour, Venkaiah another and Advani a third.
Inspired by Advani and led by Sushma, the Gang of Foes went to Andamans to honour Savarkar. Hmmm. Uma's Gandhi and Sushma's Savarkar—both in the BJP! Advani with Sushma honoured Savarkar at Andamans. Vajpayee with Uma recalled Gandhi at Amritsar. The dialectic eludes. We never understood the BJP's thesis. We perceive its antithesis. Will there ever be a synthesis?
(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)
