Historys test

As it searches its soul and strategy,wondering where it all unravelled,the BJP would do well to treat this election as a much needed systems check.

As it searches its soul and strategy,wondering where it all unravelled,the BJP would do well to treat this election as a much needed systems check. The Congress has at least sent out the right signals about revamping the party. Rahul Gandhis been long vowing to weed out the patronage politics and other drags on the ticket,and there is no question that the Congress has managed to shake itself up and think creatively.

For instance,the Delhi assembly defeat a few months back should have been hugely instructive. For the BJP,Delhi holds a special significance disproportionate to its size. It has always effortlessly claimed much of the young,educated urban vote for its own but after 26/11,they ran a blood-spattered,high-pitched campaign trying to milk the situation,a strategy that boomeranged badly. The electoral rout came as a psychological blow,and yet,the party failed to incorporate the Delhi lesson into its national strategy.

The BJP has a reputation for much greater internal democracy and several redoubtable leaders. As it contemplates its core brand and future direction,it would do well to strengthen that tradition and let its agenda be moulded constructively,rather than simply intensify current tactics. The politics of polarisation might have exhausted its electoral utility; from now on,the BJP must position itself as a responsible,solid centre-right fulcrum for smaller allies to gather around. Clearly,this time,many of its persuasive planks collapsed: its aggressive national security pitch failed to agitate the electorate,and by waffling on Varun Gandhi and floating the Narendra Modi bubble,it lost a significant band of support. And if such a transition is indeed what the party decides on,it must use its own structural advantage its relatively open leadership ladders allow new ideas to travel up faster. As a national party,the BJP is vitally important,but its still in beta a work in progress. It needs to debug,use this electoral feedback to fix the obvious kinks.