A sharply divided BJP in Uttar Pradesh has heaved a sigh of relief over the deferment of the Ayodhya verdict.
The party, which has yet to decide on its posture in the post-verdict scenario, is relieved that it has got some more time to thrash out the issue within the party.
The BJP in UP is apparently sharply divided over how it should react to the Babri verdict. While the senior leaders want the party to adopt a more “political” approach and refrain from the usual rhetoric, the party cadres want the BJP to return to its aggressive Hindutva stand and pander to the Hindu hardliners.
“A large section of the party, mainly the workers, wants us to unleash the wave of Hindutva as soon as the verdict is pronounced. They contend that the party must return to its original stand if it wants to revive itself in UP,” says a senior party functionary.
A local party worker explains, “If we are going to adopt a moderate posture, then why should the Hindus choose to support the BJP? They might as well go to the Congress or any other party. The people expect the BJP to practice aggressive Hindutva and if we cannot do this, we will keep on sliding down in UP.”
Senior party leaders, on the other hand, feel that if the BJP has to increase its political acceptability, it must now function as a political party and put the religious issues on the backburner.
“The NDA is almost withering away because other political parties do not subscribe to our views, particularly religious views. If we are looking for a larger political role for ourselves at the national level in 2014, we must leave the temple issue to other organisations and behave like a responsible political outfit. It is under this policy that senior party leaders like L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and even Vinay Katiyar have called for restraint and asked party workers to respect the court verdict,” said a senior party leader.