Modi Should Leave the BJP, Form his own Party

When Modi was elected, I was willing to approach him with an open mind. I’m a firm believer that we need to forget the distant past. So I refused to judge him on the 2002 Godhra riots, just like I don’t (and never did) care about the 1984 Sikh riots – too long ago for me.

For the most part, Modi himself hasn’t disappointed me with his performance as a PM. I like his focus on economic development, and I like the bills his government is bringing into parliament.

There’s just one problem – the BJP. And the RSS.

Even before the elections, I was worried that Modi would not be able to control his party members. It gives me no pleasure to be right. His cabinet minsters get away with saying the most stupid things, and he clearly has very little control over them. Close on the heels of the BJP, is that other crazy organization – the RSS. The same ones who imagine Indians had flying aircraft in the vedic age, continue to glorify the murder of a defenseless man (Gandhi), and have a raging paranoia about the “evil Muslims” in our country.

The problem is that members of organizations like the VHP and RSS feel somehow empowered by the BJP being in power even though Modi personally has nothing to do with their activities. Somehow during a BJP government all these crazies manage to come out of the woodwork and start spouting their nonsense, wanting to change textbooks, delivering gyan about beef, “Indian culture” and other stupid stuff.

What’s more, they think Modi is their friend and that he will tacitly support whatever they do. Which is why they hate it when he contradicts them and will remind him about his link to the 2002 Gujarat riots. Imagine – most people have forgotten what happened 13 years ago, but it’s his allies that still bring it up!

I like Modi so far – but I don’t like the way people on the Hindu right seem to feel that “their man” is at the top. And they’re wrong! Modi has (so far) done nothing to encourage right wing madness, but they still look to him as their standard bearer.

So here’s what needs to happen. Modi should dump the BJP and start his own party with no religious ideology. He needs to handpick no-nonsense ministers who can get the job done, and who won’t get distracted with religious and cultural bullshit.

Otherwise, the next elections will prove to be a terrible dilemma for me. On the one hand we have the utterly incompetent Congress/UPA who doesn’t give a damn about addressing the real issues plaguing the country. On the other hand, we have a more efficient PM who also unfortunately brings a lot of excess and harmful baggage with him via the BJP, RSS, VHP etc.

I will be in the unfortunate position of choosing between incompetence and insanity (shudder!).

So please Modi – do us a solid, float your own party, get rid of all these right wing elements, and give India a government that doesn’t care about religion/culture, and only focuses on governance.

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19 thoughts on “Modi Should Leave the BJP, Form his own Party”

  1. I’ve always had this strange nagging feeling of discomfort inside me when it came to how I felt about the BJP in context of Modi. I supported the man himself and yet what was making me squirm? Reading this post instantly switched on the bulb in my head! I rarely ever voice my opinion on politics but I can’t resist sharing this on Facebook. May I?

    Reply

  2. Sorry…won’t work. This same patronizing, divide and conquer attitude was tried with Vajpayee also. Modi won’t fall for it. You can’t separate BJP, RSS and Modi.

    Where were you people when Digvijay Singh and A R Antulay said RSS carried out 26/11 attacks? Did Sonia Gandhi lose control of Congress or was she ordering them to blame the RSS? Where were you when Congress leader Imran Masood said he would literally chop Modi to pieces (“boti boti kaat denge” were his exact words)?

    You are clearly making excuses for Congress by calling them “incompetent”. There is nothing “incompetent” about a party that has managed to hold power 60 years. The Congress is *extremely* competent. The 2G scam and CWG scam and coal scam were not “incompetence”. They were deliberate. Imposing the emergency was not “incompetence”. Passing laws to overturn SC verdict on Shah Bano was not incompetence, it was deliberate, well thought out political strategy to reap rich dividends. Nehru imposing restrictions on free speech by amending the Constitution was deliberate.

    Poverty stricken India has elected Congress for 60 years. This gives the Congress a tremendous, conscious stake in the status quo, in keeping India poor. None of this is incompetence. Its brilliant strategy, in fact.

    We all mourn for Mohammad Akhlaque killed in Dadri. But we also mourn for Prashant Poojary. But while the media brought the country to a halt over Dadri, I am yet to hear even a single news channel report about Poojary. A stone is thrown on a church and the media goes nuts. A man is hacked to death in an open marketplace and the media looks the other way. The Congress which is able to control the media to this extent with 44 seats, is not incompetent. It is brilliant and scheming. And people like you are making excuses for it.

    Speaking of Prashant Poojary’s murder, here is the latest on him:

    “Addressing a press meet at his office here, police commissioner S Murugan said that the accused arrested are Mohammed Hanif (36), a resident of Adyapady, Mohammed Ilyas (27), a resident of Moodbidri, Ibrahim Liyaqat (26) of Bantwal, and Abdul Rashid (39) of Mulky.”

    Still no religious passion angle, eh? How is this different from Dadri case? I know…the guys who killed him belonged to the correct religion and Poojary belonged the wrong one.

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    • In reply to Sumit

      Depends on how you define incompetence. When it comes to governing India, the Congress is definitely incompetent. I don’t know what kind of yardstick you’re using.

      And the rest of your comment is irrelevant to the topic of my post.

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      • In reply to bhagwad

        So 2G and coal scam are just “incompetence”? Nice…all the corruption of the Congress is chalked up as “incompetence”. Good excuse. Being the ruling party of 60 years, the Congress has an obvious stake in the status quo, in keeping India poor. So how can you call it “incompetence” when they have an obvious vested interest in governing “incompetently”? It is deliberate cheating. Suppose you are paying a guy $50,000 for a diamond ring. You go home and discover that the diamond is fake. I am sure you will complain that the guy who sold it to you is only “incompetent”. Why else would he mistake a fake diamond for a real one, right?

        The rest of the post obviously is “off topic”. Whenever a Hindu dies, first the “liberal” makes excuses like you did the other day with “mafia murder” and all that. If excuses obviously dont work, the “liberal” becomes silent. You ask them why and naturally it becomes “off topic”. Simple strategy really.

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      • In reply to Sumit

        Corruption – duh. You’re upset because I didn’t use the word “corruption”, is that it? It’s no secret that the Congress is corrupt, it goes without saying. Seriously, way to miss the point. Out of everything my post is saying, you pick up the think that suits your persecution agenda.

        Well, let me tell you this again – your post is off-topic. Please find another relevant post, or your own blog to vent. I would appreciate comments on a post to deal with the actual issue addressed – not a mishmash of 100 woes and complaints.

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      • In reply to bhagwad

        I actually have a blog that gets a lot more views (and comments and commenters) than yours does. But thats off topic, lets say…

        Well, yeah…I am asking why you forgot about Congress corruption? No, you can’t hide behind “it goes without saying”. The BJP’s connections to RSS/VHP also go without saying. Doesn’t prevent you from digging them up each time. But there is more than corruption here. I am making the point that Congress has a vested interest in status quo, because they are the ruling party of 6 decades. Why would they want to change the country? So Congress keeping the country poor for 6 decades is not due to “incompetence”, its deliberate. And I think you are smart enough to realize that. Which is why I am complaining about you excusing it as mere “incompetence”.

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      • In reply to Sumit

        Because I take corruption as a given in politics. You seem to think there’s some major agenda behind me not using the word “corruption”. There isn’t. I’ve written lots of blog posts about Congress corruption – do a search on my blog and find out. This is just another example of the right wing being paranoid. There’s no grand scheme or conspiracy to whitewash the evils of the Congress – it’s all in your head.

        And why do you persist in not talking about the subject of the post? Do you want me to delete your comment just so you can scream “censorship” (which it isn’t)? Will that further fit into the right wing paranoia of being “shut down” by the evil liberals?

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      • In reply to bhagwad

        Nice new excuse! Corruption is a “given” in politics, so it doesn’t need to be pointed out :-) Ok…and so is dividing people along identity lines for votes!!!

        You are a writer. For 6 decades of Congress rule, the only word you could come up with was “incompetence”? Really…from the 1962 war blunder to the socialist policies that brought India to bankruptcy to the Emergency to Shah Bano to humongous corruption scandals to massive riots, a writer chose the word “incompetence” to sum it all up? Really?

        Well, if you delete my comment, I won’t scream censorship (because it isn’t). I will only laugh at your intellectual insecurity of being unable to tolerate a contrary view. Have I abused you? I have only pressed you to explain the choice of words. And I have done so consistently. You are a writer. You should be open to people criticising your language.

        Even you know that “incompetence” was a poor choice of words. That’s why you are now claiming there is no agenda behind it. If there wasn’t, I am glad. Then why not swallow your pride and admit that “incompetence” was definitely not the word to describe Congress.

        In fact, if you are insecure enough to delete my comment, the only thing I will scream is that you are now perfectly suited to receive a Sahitya Akademi award :-)

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      • In reply to Sumit

        You’re not abusing me. But you’re definitely spoiling my discussion section with irrelevant things. Like I said, I’ve written lots of articles on the Congress’s corruption before. What you’re doing now is equivalent to grammar Nazis ignoring an article and focusing on some minor point of language.

        Please ensure that your next comment deals with the specific issue of Modi splitting from the BJP, or I will delete your comment for irrelevancy – not abuse, or holding a contrary view, but simply being irrelevant.

        Let that feed into the right wing victim complex if you want! The fact that I haven’t deleted you so far shows my monumental tolerance. Anyone else would have done so long ago.

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      • In reply to bhagwad

        Personally, I would set the bar for “monumental tolerance” slightly higher than not getting insecure enough to delete the comments of the single one of the just 2-3 commenters on your blog who is a right winger. But yes, by liberal standards, your tolerance is indeed monumental. Most of Indian media would actually benefit if they learned from you.

        Reply

      • In reply to Sumit

        Depends on what you’re tolerating. What I’m objecting to is clutter, not contrary ideas. The two things are different. I have a very clear comments policy in which No. 3 requests users to stay on topic. This is not a secret – it’s just good manners.

        Like if you go to someone’s house, you shouldn’t mess up the walls and pee on the carpet. It’s rude. And if the house owner turns you out, you can’t say that they’re insecure.

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      • In reply to bhagwad

        I agree with sumit on this: “Sorry…won’t work. This same patronizing, divide and conquer attitude was tried with Vajpayee also. Modi won’t fall for it. You can’t separate BJP, RSS and Modi.”

        You are talking about bjp rss modi without knowing about these organisations and personality. You may be talking about the rights of “secular fascism” in the country. You all say about freedom of expression but if any unacceptable views are expressed by other side of bjp or rss you are only intolerant to it. I had written some examples of this secular fascism in the write up about the allegations against rss. Read : https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-perception-about-RSS-Rashtriya-Swayamsevak-Sangh-What-is-the-truth-beyond-this-perception

        Just have a basic understanding about what is rss and bjp before putting such comments.

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  3. Agree about MODIS predicament…. But his situation s similar to that of the mythological character Karna….he will not come out of BJP & RSS connection…which is his Alma mater…!!! He may concede defeat if he loses next election coz of these jokers but he s far too loyal to his mentors in RSS to walk out on them.
    But I haven’t given up all hope yet…he s a man who has proved his mettle in all odd circumstances…!!! Hoping he wd turn the situation around like he put off his detracters within the party advani…muralimanohar Joshi…& Yeshwant sinha smartly ryte after his victory in elections…& took charge effectively…!!

    Reply

      • In reply to bhagwad

        One of my college senior took charge as HoD of his dept…. & brought in a lot of changes and made the dept proud…& was applauded fr his efforts…!!! Next thing the college admin appointed him as the principal of the college & the whole college had huge expectations Frm him…!!! But u c he can promise & cajole his staff and students to join hands & make the place a better one in future but his promises CD not b kept coz of chairman’s (financiers) whimsical ways…so he quit as principal & went bk to being HOD…!!!
        Similarly he had his Gujarat in his total control like a Hod & reshaped it well but as PM….he s dependant on too many ppls support in turning his promises to reality…despite a whopping majority in elections…!!

        Reply

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