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- T V R Shenoy
- You could lay the economic policies of the Congress and the BJP side by side, and 999 out of 1,000 would struggle to say which is which. A truly right-wing, meaning fiscally conservative, party might have considered opposing schemes like loan waivers or employment guarantee programmes. Did you ever hear the BJP oppose a populist scheme?
- Again, how much did the BJP do to dismantle the 'licence-permit-quota Raj' when it was in power? I am not talking about the things that irk big business, just the strangling web of forms in triplicate that plagues the ordinary citizen. The answer is that the BJP did only as much, or as little, as the Congress itself -- or so goes the popular perception.
- If it isn't 'right-wing' what exactly is 'Hindu nationalist' about the BJP these days? The party was identified with the Ayodhya issue, but how much did it actually do to erect a temple? Take that out of the equation, and what, specifically, is so 'Hindu' about the BJP's programmes?
- Did anyone in the BJP even try to put together an environmental case against the Rama Sethu Project alongside one based purely on religious sentiment? (Or even one demonstrating that the project is a waste of money?)
- Those are just two examples of ancient traditions being adapted for today, there could be others. But if the BJP is neither particularly 'right wing' nor draws on 'Hindu' tradition in formulating policies, why should anyone vote for it rather than the Congress? Come to that, what is there to keep even the BJP cadre motivated between one general election and the next?
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