The Hindu : Stamping out dissent

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 08, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

Stamping out dissent

THE QUIET EXIT of the Union Rural Development Minister, Shanta Kumar, from the National Democratic Alliance Government is not only an indication of the factional rivalries in the BJP, but also a pointer to the shrinking of the space for dissent and democratic discussion in the party. The immediate context of the resignation of Mr. Kumar is the politics revolving around the just-concluded Assembly election in Himachal Pradesh. Following the defeat of the BJP in the election in his home State, Mr. Kumar faulted the performance of the State Government led by his rival within the party, Prem Kumar Dhumal. But, rather than use Mr. Kumar's diagnosis of the defeat as an opportunity for introspection, the BJP high command decided to attribute the Himachal Pradesh drubbing to infighting and dissidence. Although the BJP is entitled to prescribe its own cures for its own maladies, the attempt to shift the blame on to Mr. Kumar suggests an unwillingness to learn from mistakes, a refusal to accept that the Gujarat model of fashioning electoral victories cannot be replicated everywhere. Apparently, the party needed a beyond-the-obvious explanation for a defeat so soon after the euphoria over the success in Gujarat. The failure in Himachal Pradesh must have been difficult to swallow, but that was no reason for the BJP top leadership to try and pin down Mr. Kumar as the villain of the piece. True, Mr. Kumar, a former Chief Minister, nurtured a faction in the State unit of the BJP against the Dhumal Government. But, then, the BJP high command virtually formalised the factionalism by appointing Mr. Kumar as the head of the party poll panel in Himachal Pradesh. By pointing to inner party squabbles, and by implication, holding Mr. Kumar responsible for the electoral defeat, the BJP high command actually ignored the poor performance of the Dhumal Government.

However, the Shanta Kumar episode goes beyond the immediate context of regional politics. A strong critic of the extremist brand of Hindutva politics inside the BJP, Mr. Kumar came close to losing his place in the Cabinet once before when he suggested that the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, should step down after the post-Godhra riots. Although he later expressed regret to the party high command for his statement, Mr. Kumar still stood by his call for controlling elements who "in the name of Hindutva" were bringing a bad name to the Sangh Parivar. Despite his deep roots in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Mr. Kumar seemed to have very little appreciation for the hate campaign that is characteristic of the majoritarian politics of the BJP. And, as he repeatedly tried to articulate a sanitised, less confrontationist form of the Sangh ideology, the BJP leadership found him to be an embarrassment. Sadly, as a senior leader raising inconvenient questions, Mr. Kumar attracted more enemies than admirers. There was no place for him during these times when people like Mr. Modi are the heroes of the BJP.

Also, in securing the exit of Mr. Kumar from the Union Ministry, the BJP must be hoping to restrain anyone speaking out of line. Both as a Minister and as a partyman, Mr. Kumar was known to be forthright in his views. Indeed, if the BJP high command did not act earlier, it was almost certainly because the senior leaders did not want to upset the equilibrium before the Himachal Pradesh Assembly election. Now, with the BJP out of power in the hill State, there is nothing to be lost even if Mr. Kumar decides to foment trouble in the party. At the same time, he would serve as an example to all the dissidents in the BJP, and not just in Himachal Pradesh. There is no scope for dissidence in the BJP, unless, of course, the dissident is a strongman like Mr. Modi. Mr. Kumar, as it turns out, was the small price that the BJP was only too happy to pay in the endeavour to stamp out dissent.

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