DC Debate: Opportunity or ideology?

A time-tested farce: As Karl Marx’s famous quote — “History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce” — aptly sums up the situation of the Janata Parivar. The coming together of diverse elements of the earlier Ram Manohar Lohia-Karpoori Thakur followers is today clearly a matter of survival. With the resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies crossing the 40 per cent vote share in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and voters giving clearer verdicts, the Janata Parivar is scrambling together to get their political arithmetic in place. But more than political maths, it is the leaders’ chemistry and their agenda for governance that voters think of at the polling booths.

The real reason behind this retrofitted bonhomie between Nitish Kumar and his bête noir of 15 years, Lalu Prasad Yadav, is the Bihar Assembly elections slated for November 2015.

The post-Mandal, pan-OBC coalition fell apart because of personal animosity and inherent Yadav/Kurmi aspirations. The success of Mr Kumar was based on three factors: His fight against the “jungle raj” unleashed by Rashtriya Janata Dal, his party’s alliance with the BJP and his appeal to the economically backward classes/Mahadalit voters.

Most politicians are quick to reinvent and repackage their ideologies for electoral survival. But to imagine that voters suffer from political amnesia is flawed thinking. So, has the RJD become the new benchmark of development politics for

Mr Kumar? The other four elements of the Janata Parivar have no real relevance in the shifting sands of the political landscape of Bihar.

The aspirations of diverse caste-based formations and the potential of Raj Narain-type maverick behaviour will confront the Janata Parivar.

At present without a common flag, symbol or manifesto, this rag-tag coalition is heavily dependent on individual egos and foes-turned-friends working together to win the trust of the politically-savvy Bihar electorate.

With the apparent dent in the Mahadalit bloc, the fissures are deepening as quickly as the leaders are trying to cement their intra-party differences.

The experiment and subsequent collapse of the Janata Parivar in 1977, 1989 and 1996 is reminiscent of the hazards of inimical forces coming together just to retain or grab power.

The ideological glue for equitable development can very quickly vanish because of individual wishes of demagogues who run family-based parties like the SP, RJD, Indian National Lok Dal, Janata Dal (Secular).

The BJP gave unflinching support to Nitish Kumar to retrieve Bihar from the so called “jungle raj” of the RJD era.

Numerically, Bihar is a tough electoral battle but the voters will have a choice between cohesive governance offered by the BJP and its allies and the historically divisive factions of the Janata Parivar pulling in different directions.

Dr Aijaz Ilmi is a BJP leader

Imperative to Indian democracy: There is a state of total discontent prevailing in the country. The government has failed the masses in all spheres and people are on the lookout for an alternative that would challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party’s rather sickening single-party, draconian, pro-corporate, anti-poor rule in the country.

It is to fill this political void and discontent that the merger of the Janata parties has happened. The leaders of the Janata Parivar belong to the socialist school of Indian politics and uphold leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Ram Manohar Lohia as their role models.

The Janata Parivar has a history of restoring the health of Indian democracy. Under the able leadership of secular, democratic leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and other stalwarts, the Janata Parivar is yet again ready to challenge the autocratic single-party rule at the Centre. The Janata Parivar is bound to have tremendous consequences in Indian politics.

As far as promises made during election campaigns are concerned, most of them are yet to be fulfilled and the government seems to be indifferent in this regard.

When asked why the BJP failed to retrieve all the black money stashed abroad, party president Amit Shah promptly replied that such promises must not be taken too seriously as they are no more than mere quotes. True to his words, the promised increase of 50 per cent in the minimum support price (MSP) has in reality been increased only by 3 per cent.

After a drought year, followed by intense destruction of crops by untimely rains and hailstorms, the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices suggested an increase of mere Rs 50 in the MSP of rice, the chief kharif crop which the farmers expected would bring relief to their deteriorating economic condition.

Farmer suicides have not decreased, but worse, they are dying of heart attacks now, watching their crops perish. The amount to be spent on irrigation has also been cut down.

Important posts in agricultural research institutes are lying vacant. The promised increase in employment through the Make in India initiative has yielded nothing and the Jan Dhan Yojna has only added to the coffers of the Central government.

The government has not only contradicted its promises of economic policies but also the social ones. The Prime Minister had promised that no religion would be discriminated against once the BJP comes to power.

However, within days of BJP assuming power, the VHP launched its aggressive “ghar wapsi” campaign, castigating religious minorities across the country.

The vandalisation of churches and the gruesome physical violence inflicted on the clergy threatens the secular fabric of the country.

There have been instances of violence against minorities. It’s in this vitiated atmosphere that the Janata Parivar would play an indispensible role in democratising and secularising Indian body politic.

K.C. Tyagi is JD(U) general secretary and RS MP