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Ram versus Rajya

It’s poll time in two weeks, will the BJP trust its wisdom or succumb to instinct?

The BJP’s reputation as politically the most astute party is entirely deserved. The only uncharitable thing you might say to that is, something like, look at the competition! But seriously, in the post-Bofors phase, the BJP has scripted its politics with a skill and panache that the competition has simply failed to figure out. The result is this very stable, and very effective, coalition, a reasonably good government, rapid economic growth, arrival of modern infrastructure, a pragmatic and rewarding foreign policy and pretty good law and order — besides that one blot of Gujarat.

So, as the party, and the entire political system, goes into the election mode again, what is the BJP thinking while devising its strategy for 2003 (the state elections) and then the big one in 2004?

What should be the agenda? Hindutva, soft or hard? Or a larger, more mainstream — in fact even more secular —...

Posted by: Rainey Day

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