Being election season and “ Dance of Democracy” being the “ Chai Pe Charcha” and all the polls pointing to the eminent rise of the saffron sun I felt the need to introspect on the BJP, the ruling party to be … as I know it . In many a social interaction I have found people to be apprehensive about Modi being anointed the Prime Minister , the worry being more on the Hindutvata score and if the wild and communal horses of the Togadias and Girirajs  would bolt the stable spreading intolerance and hatred and thereby spawn more Mumbras and Bhivandis  !

Years back my first memories of the then Jana Sangh was of the local Sangh leader who would almost regularly , in late evening , after office hours , come out with his band of loyal followers , a motley group of not more then 15 to 20 who would go around this small Mumbai suburb banging spoons on steel plates – lodging their protest against price rise . One knew that the sound of the banging spoons would never be heard and that it made no difference to the powers that be , yet the sanghis stuck to their cause and what one admired was their dedication and loyalty to their party .Those were also calamity days …when some national calamity or the other , usually in the form of floods and sometimes of famines would strike some part of the country and then one would read about the RSS volunteers who selflessly worked and helped the needy . And then there were the RSS morning parades when you saw a few young boys in their khaki half pants marching at the corner open space – grounds having always been a scarcity in Mumbai . One noticed that the sanghis were few , a minority and usually had a known sect of followers such as the Maharashtrian Brahmins ( usually Koknasthas) or people affected by the partition such as the Sindhis and the Punjabis ( not the Sikhs) . One of my uncles ( not a Maharashtrian Brahmin though) who was a Sangh leader of some prominence would always speak of the eminent Muslim threat and how in years to come the Muslim population would surpass the Hindus with Hindustan being converted into an Islamisthan  !! This ‘Hate and Fear Muslim” ideology never really appealed to us boys and none of my friends ever joined the morning parades …or may be it was just the peculiar high waist stitch of the khaki half pants which kept us away !

Much later the emergency gave birth to the Janata Party and the Janasangh was merged and dissolved into the hotchpotch of the ‘Indira Hatao” parties . However this was not to last and from the hotchpotch remerged the new avatar of the sangh the BJP ..Which is of course more recent history but largely over shadowed by Advanijis Rath Yatra followed by the Babri demolition , the riots that followed and then the communal carnage in Gujarat . During the NDA’s stint in power lead by the BJP , the temple was not built nor was article 370 abrogated and the uniform civil code implemented . Probably it was Atalji or the allies who kept the  “Attal” sanghis in check . Will Modi be able to do the encore and keep the sanghis in check while he launches the “ Gujarat Model” across the nation ? Will the largest minority of Muslims be not looked with the aspersion that they would eventually overwhelm the majority ? Would the two communities truly integrate and prevent the need of a Mumbra ? In this developmental vs corruption debate what place would the slogan “ Garv Se Kaho Hum Hindu Hai” have ?

With this perception of the BJP and the sangh , it would not appear to be the most popular political combine that people wish to vote for . Their regional allies are not helping either . Is it then the popularity of Narendra Bhai which is drawing the crowds and probably the votes ?  Modi seems to be largely a social media creation whose backroom boys have run an extremely successful campaign . What the BJP seems to be gaining from is the anti incumbency vote , the economic down turn , the corruption scandals that were unearthed and not the least .. Rahuls disconnect with the youth .Though Arvind Kejriwal has lagged behind he needs to be credited for awakening the voter and for the increase in percentage of votes polled , the benefit of which shall ironically accrue to Modi …at least for the present.

Now that it is a given – will Modi make the difference and take the nation truly away from vote bank politics . Has BJP truly metamorphosed ? M J Akbar thinks so . I too have gambled that way !