A Roadmap For Future BJP Victories.

Experts are offering all kinds of opinions on why Nitish Kumar did well. Of course none of them are paying attention to BJP’s performance, which is better than Nitish Kumar’s performance because his party contested from a lot more seats that BJP. Does Bihar offer a blueprint for future campaigns? I think it does. BJP won because it went to the basics – performance and offering a genuine conservative alternative to the run of the mill pseudo-secular garbage offered by Congress and other regional parties.
When BJP won in the 1990’s, it was still an avatar of the Janasangh. The party of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stood for Hindu conservatism and nationalism. The leaders and workers believed in certain ideals. They were really different from the opportunistic and unscrupulous Congress. When they won, the party was small. All kinds of people started to join the party. These people only respected power and not the ideals. After almost a decade, those “newcomers” have managed to give the party a new look. In the words of one of the original members and a great man Arun Shourie, the current BJP is no different than Congress. They are sipping from the same poisoned cup of corruption. The BJP made deals with the worst kind of politicians to stay in power in Chattisgarh. They are letting the CM of Karnataka get away with the kind of corruption that they are accusing the Congress of!
Liberals are very accommodating when it comes to principles and ideology. Conservatives have a greater responsibility when it comes to the issues of morals and ethics. That way, the BJP has to stay many rungs above the usual politics. Unfortunately, they have fallen victims to the trappings of power. Fortunately, Bhai Narendra Modi and recent Bihar win give us some hints. The party needs to take lessons and implement them so as position themselves for the next general elections. My suggestions are:

1. Have a clear-cut leadership structure. PM candidate needs to be made clear before the elections. Candidate must be eligible and electable. He or she must be selected on merits rather than seniority. Projecting Advaniji in the last election was a mistake.
2. Go back to basics. Hindu nationalism rather than Hindutva should be the focus. BJP needs to have and India first attitude. Our religion is the greatest in the world but the country needs to take precedence. Otherwise there is no difference between the ummah-first Muslims and us. A grass roots level campaign is necessary and RSS needs to help out. The differences RSS has with the BJP are far less and benign than the differences they have with the Congress! It is this very approach, which won them the first election.
3. Bhai Narendra Modi and Bihar show that performance trumps everything else. Two years after Godhra riots, BJP won the municipal elections even from Muslim dominated areas in Gujarat. Why? Because Modi government brings prosperity to Gujarat and everyone benefits not just the Hindus. The Vijayraje Scindia government in Rajasthan did not perform and thus became a big reason for BJP’s loss in 2009 general elections. We need to force Yedurappa to perform or get out in K’taka. The lingayat votes are not going to win the next elections. Performance will.
4. Attention must be paid to the voice of dissidence. Especially when it comes from stalwarts like Mr. Shourie. Inputs from leaders of his caliber must not become casualties of political expediency. If he says the JPC against A Raja scam is a bad idea then we needs to hear him out.
5. Corrupt and opportunists in the party must be weeded out. I can appreciate the need of money to contest elections but lines have to be drawn and must be respected. Guys like Reddy brothers in K’taka bring the party bad name. Presence of such crooks in Congress does not excuse their presence in the BJP.
6. Social engineering is a fact of political life in India. It is an evil practice but in a budding democracy like ours, it is a game that has to be played to win. BJP must recruit local leaders with strong Hindu nationalistic credentials and seek their help in winning at grassroots levels. At the end, all politics IS local.
7. Young leaders must be encouraged to take the center stage. That is the only way to attract the next generation, which has grown up listening to the lies of the English Language media. These leaders must speak to voters on topics, which affect the daily lives of the aam aadmi.

The BJP need to start today and prepare for the next elections. The nation needs a good government. It is obvious that Congress cannot do that.

How BJP Created Magic In Bihar
Planning the elections: According to Pradhan, BJP started planning for the election in June. "We did two things. We had a Vidhan Sabha-wise workers' convention. And in July, we conducted Vidhan Sabha-level sammelans in the respective constituencies. The idea was to create the confidence among our workers that we can achieve this win, and to plug all loopholes," he said.
At the district-level meetings, the BJP had one-on-one talks with party workers. Pradhan claimed that he alone had personal one-on-one meetings with around 5,000 people in 120 constituencies in two to three months. "We got their suggestions and feedback. We understood the caste equations in the constituencies," he said.
"Then we commissioned a good independent survey. Earlier, people could sit in a hotel room and say we did the survey. There was no way of knowing if the agency went to the field. So, this time we asked the agency to show us evidence. This we did by using the global positioning system. So, if the agency said the sample size in a constituency was 700, we would have 700 record points, with the place, time, date and all other details," he added. So, though it was low-profile, low-key campaigning, we had gotten the basics right, and were confident that we had the right picture all the time. With this as the starting point, we then set out into micro-management.

The article can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-how-bjp-created-magic-in-bihar/20101201.htm