Is a Bharatiya Janata Party without Hindutva realistic?

The debate has long persisted in BJP circles if the party should remain wedded to Hindutva which necessarily means being a “Hindu first” party (with the implied suggestion of discrimination against those who are not of the majority faith) or jettison this founding credo and turn into a straightforward party of the Right with a nebulous nativist tinge. This issue came to be discussed in right earnest when Atal Behari Vajpayee became Prime Minister, winning Muslim votes along the way on the strength of his liberal Hindu image, the first time a BJP leader of eminence had extended his reach to the constituency of the country’s most significant religious minority. Inspired by this, the party had got into the business of seeking to acquire a pan India character, like the Congress, its most significant other.

However, resolving the fundamental question raised by the long simmering debate in favour of ditching Hindutva would necessarily mean saying good-bye to the BJP’s thus far unshakeable Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh links. If this were to come true, it would be remarkable and odd as the BJP’s forerunner, the Bhartiya Jan Sangh, was created as the political arm of the RSS, an out and out Hindu supremacist outfit. Shaking off the RSS would also imply that the BJP would become a religion neutral party, just like most other parties in the system. However, it would then lose its uniqueness and would no longer be naturally able to lay claim to the country’s communal Hindu constituency fed on RSS values.BJP chief Rajnath Singh’s hardsell to Muslims, going to the length of saying the party “loves” Muslims, and his pointing them in the direction of “Moditva”, can hardly be seen as part of the abiding debate. The reason for this is that it has been seen over and over again in the past year that the RSS has taken all the key decisions in respect of the BJP as a party.

As the Lok Sabha polls neared, the outfit that is the definitive custodian of the Hindutva ideology ensured that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was planted as the BJP’s PM nominee against stiff opposition. It also ensured that Rajnath Singh was made the party’s president, overlooking the claims of others, when Nitin Gadkari fell to allegations of corruption. Undoubtedly, the BJP’s RSS association remains tight as ever. Mr Singh did his best though, venturing into terrain Mr Modi himself has not gone. He noted that his party was “prepared” to apologise, “bowing our head”, if mistakes were to be made. It was meant to look like he meant Gujarat. But it was also oblique enough to mean a “mistake” in the future. Let’s see if the Muslims bite.