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How to defeat BJP: Electoral tactics alone can not do it



No, illogical coalitions are not the answer to the abovestated problem, well not at least in my view because the resultant mess would not be accepted by the society because they too want a stable government. Though stable government is last of their concern, their hearts will question them that for whose benefit will they work for instance a government made by a coalition between pro-Dalit party, pro-OBC party and Congress will work for the welfare of whom? Will they work for the benefit of Dalits or OBC or rather for all of them? To this, the simple answer is that they cannot work for the welfare of more than one community as no political group in India has neither the willpower to do so nor have efficient resources required for it. This unholy coalition made by sheer survival instincts will prefer not to work at all towards the welfare of anyone to save itself from being accused of discrimination and the resultant loss of traditional voter base.

This is just a problem apparent on the face along with other much complex problems, the idea of an all opposition alliance is more like a political suicide than an effective alternative. To crack this cryptic code one needs to analyze the protagonist itself, we need to understand what brought about such a gigantic rise of BJP.  Talk about the advertisements, campaigning, money, promises of development but this is what every other political party does, so what exactly separates the wheat from the chaff? It is the ‘ideology’ that forms the foundation of the party which is further strengthened by ‘propaganda.’ The devotion of top leaders to their ideology is spellbinding, unlike BSP supremo who fell for money or SP, AIADMK, Congress, JDS, RJD which fell because of their top leader’s family love.

Also, the ‘ideology’ of the nationalist party is mesmerizing, not in its substance but because of the details of it that they have worked out. This ideology, ‘Hindu Nationalism’, penetrates into all sphere s of life including food, economy, religion, clothes among many others. To some, these are excesses committed by the party which will lead to its downfall but the truth is otherwise. This organic set of ideas is known as ‘Weltanschauung’ in German, it stands for a particular philosophy or view of the world of a particular group/ community regarding all spheres of life. It is in itself a Bible which guides a person in all kinds of problems of life and this is what has been adopted by BJP. This stand of BJP has made it bigger than a political party, an ideology to which masses can connect in an instant. It stands in line with much bigger ideologies like Marxism where the division was made on the basis of economic class.

Now, if look at the other side of the aisle, in no time we recognize that Opposition has no ideology of its own let alone a weltanschauung. All that has been done by Congress or other political parties is to disapprove of BJP’s actions and ideas but they have never given people an alternative idea. There are people who are against BJP’s ideology and have a ‘negative attitude’ towards it but they don’t find the ideology towards which they have a ‘positive attitude’ because there is no rival weltanschauung. Opposition parties need to form ideologies of their own and advertise it vigorously. The benefit of having weltanschauung is that all the ideas of the party in all the spheres become coherent and are longer absurd or contradictory with one another. It makes the party look like an organism which is striving to reach towards one goal and all the people who associate themselves with the goal associate themselves with the party. In the present case, BJP has that goal but Congress has no such goal except getting into power and that is why only people who associate with it are people who have the hunger for power (unscrupulous political parties).

It is pertinent to note that though the arguments given by the opposition parties to assault BJP are logically sound but still are rejected by the people at large, what can be the possible reason? It is because broad masses are ignorant and unaware of the consequences of their decisions. Congress offers them the super elitist logical argument which they cannot contemplate and BJP gives them a formula by which they can at least understand all the policies of the party which may or may not be for their own benefit (another example of such formula used by other parties is caste). People want to be intoxicated by ideas and ideologies that guide them in every sphere of life, which tells them that they are right and their actions have sanction from some form of higher authority otherwise they will go rogue and that is what they fear. BJP is capitalizing on this fear of the majority.

A group of rats cannot defeat a lion but even a single mouse with a purpose can wreck havoc on everyone for that the mouse would be something more than itself. Here Congress has to be the mouse with a purpose and then only can it oust BJP from the minds of the people and of the power because even if they defeat BJP somehow in this election and the good memories are allowed to stay in the minds of the people then a comeback by BJP for a long time would be inevitable in case of a bad performance by united opposition. What needs to be done is that this electoral battle needs to be turned into an ideological one and that too with a definite propaganda. This propaganda should repeat the rhetoric again and again till the people understand that Congress or some other party is also has something to offer and not just warning and erecting beware signs against choosing BJP.

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