With the Ram Mandir issue having lost the power to bring in votes and catchy slogans having failed to mobilise cadres, the Bharatiya Janata Party has finally decided to take refuge in the charisma of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to return to power in UP and at the Centre.
Mr Vajpayee’s presence was all the more palpable in his absence at the BJP’s national executive, which began here on Friday.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari made a clear attempt to revive the memory of Mr Vajpayee and evoke emotions of party cadres when he underlined the significance of holding the national executive in Lucknow — Mr Vajpayee’s karmabhoomi — and recalled his words that the road to Delhi was via Lucknow.
Mr Gadkari, while addressing the inaugural session of the party’s national executive on Friday, said that the party would release digitalised versions of Mr Vajpayee’s speeches on June 8 in Delhi.
Mr Gadkari termed Mr Vajpayee an “ajat shatru” and said that he continued to be a permanent source of inspiration for the party. He added that he had taken Mr Vajpayee’s blessings before coming to Lucknow for the national executive.
He said that to win the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it was imperative for the party to win the 2012 UP Assembly elections.
However, he emphasised that the BJP would not enter into any pre-poll or post-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party or the Rashtriya Lok Dal. “These parties are friends with the Congress in Delhi and indulge in shadow-boxing in Lucknow,” Mr Gadkari said.
Briefing reporters about the president’s address at the inaugural session, BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad said that the party president said that the BJP had formed a majority government in Uttar Pradesh and has a fertile base in the state. “All we need to do is to re-cultivate our base because people are looking towards political alternatives. They are weary of SP-BSP governments,” he said.
Asked why the party was attempting to downplay the Ram Mandir issue, Mr Prasad said, “Ram temple is not a poll issue for us. It is an issue of faith.”