BJP cracks whip on hotheads; other parties mum
Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah's stern warning to loudmouths in the organisation to rein in their controversial remarks, cannot have come a day soon. Certain leaders have been needlessly making statements that have provided their rivals ammunition to not just criticise the party's ideology but also drag in the Prime Minister’s name into the debate. Additionally, these remarks have had the potential to divert public attention from the Government's narrative of ‘inclusive development', which the Modi regime has been pursuing effectively since it assumed power.
On previous occasions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his dismay over certain happenings in the country that had sought to create an entirely avoidable divide in society. Subsequently, and even before, senior party and Government functionaries had unequivocally rejected the irresponsible utterances made by a clutch of leaders on a variety of matters and emphatically stated the Government's and the party's position on the issues. But, as the errant ones did not seem to have got the message, leaving the Prime Minister ‘extremely upset', Mr Shah summoned some of those leaders to Delhi, and spoke to others over the phone, and delivered the blunt message.
It is hoped that the exercise will at least now have a salutory impact so that the party and the Government can concentrate on the tasks they have been mandated for by the people, who have shown overwhelming trust in them through the ballot box in the 2014 lok Sabha election. For the BJP, the insensitive remarks have become even more of an embarrassment because they come in the backdrop of the Bihar Assembly election, voting for which has already commenced in phases. Rivals of the BJP in the State have been latching on to each of these controversial remarks and seeking to make political capital out of it.
Besides, there are others outside the political system but tuned in to a particular political ideology who, using those stray utterances, are adding to the (wrong and mischievous) impression that a wave of intolerance is sweeping the nation ever since Mr Modi assumed the prime ministership. Of course, many of these critics would condemn the Government in any case, as they only need an issue, even if imaginary. Still, even though they need not be taken too seriously, the BJP and the Union Government can certainly benefit from more mature responses from their leaders.
But, while opposition parties are hollering over the ‘intolerance' of the ruling party, the Union Government and the Prime Minister, they are conveniently ignoring outrageous utterances of their own leaders, some of whom have actually been the prime instigators of the controversy. The beef issue, for instance, found place in the Bihar campaign because of irresponsible remarks that Rashtriya Janata Dal chief lalu Prasad made. Elsewhere, other opposition party leaders, from the Congress to the JD(U) to the left to the National Conference, jumped into the fray, desperately seeking to milk the matter for vote-bank politics. They too need to be responsible in their statements. One hasn't see any restraining measure applied to such people by their respective senior leadership. This is sheer hypocrisy on the part of the self-styled secularists.