NDA's disarray has to do with the BJP's Hindutva parochialism

The NDA’s failure to field a candidate of its own for President is an indication of the disarray facing the Opposition alliance, aided by faction fights within the BJP.

With its preferred choice, former President A P J Abdul Kalam, having bowed out after the Congress outsmarted a truant Mamata Banerjee by roping in Mulayam Singh Yadav, the BJP is backing former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma, if only for the sake of having a nominee.

It can be argued that the BJP is making use of its internal failures to reach out to the likes of former Orissa ally and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik and AIADMK’s Jayalalithaa, who together launched Sangma’s Presidency bid. But Patnaik is trying to poach MLAs of other parties, including the BJP, following the recent coup scare in his state.

With even staunch BJP allies, the Shiv Sena and the Janata Dal (United), expressing support for Pranab Mukherjee, and two Left parties, the CPI(M) and the Forward Bloc joining in, the latter’s already-solid backing looks impervious now.

More than the presidential elections, what is crucial is the open spat between the BJP-RSS and Nitish Kumar over the possibility of Narendra Modi’s emergence as the NDA’s PM candidate. And it posits the central flaw and failing of the BJP in its attempts to reclaim power at the Centre.

The RSS, the BJP’s sponsor and perpetual mentor, has sought to dismiss Nitish Kumar’s objections saying that Hindutva itself is secular. The trouble is not with Hinduism, but with the RSS attempt to morph it into something else.

An instance from the Ramayana is telling. When Bharat visits his elder brother in exile to persuade him to return to Ayodhya, Rama declines but asks after his subjects. In particular, he inquires about the Charvakas, a group of atheists, rebels on the fringe of society.

If such a group is doing well, so does the nation — this inclusiveness is the defining hallmark of traditional Rama Rajya. In the Sangh’s version, the minorities have to be bludgeoned into second-hand status. So long as the BJP does not forsake this vision, imported through its ties with the RSS, its allies will remain flighty.