Advaniji's inaugural speech at BJP's 25 year celebration

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>[bJP News] Advaniji's inaugural speech at BJP's 25 year celebration

>Wed, 6 Apr 2005 10:01:40 -0700

>

>PRESS RELEASES

>April 06, 2005

>

>BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY

>

>Special Session of the National Council

>To Mark the Party's Rajat Jayanti

>

>Presidential Address by Shri L.K. Advani

>

>New Delhi : April 6, 2005

>

>I am pleased to welcome you all to this historic meeting of the National Council

>of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

>

>This date, this place and this occasion stir up such pleasurable memories in the

>minds of many old-timers like me that they recreate an experience for us that

>is as unbelievable as it is unforgettable. Twenty-five years ago, our Party was

>born on this very day and at nearly this very place. And here we are, to

>commemorate that proud founding moment that launched the BJP on its journey as

>an independent political party in the service of Mother India.

>

>1980 - 2005: A Memorable Yatra

>

>The BJP is called a party of yatras. We accept this epithet with pride. But the

>most memorable and the most rewarding of all our yatras is our Yatra of the

>past 25 years. What a journey it has been! How quickly the days and years have

>passed! And, without sounding immodest or conceited, let me add: how much have

>we truly accomplished!

>

>It is not given to many political activists in India to relive such a moment as

>members of a party that has remained undivided, as sevaks of a mission that has

>not lost its moorings, and as travelers in a journey that has not only

>progressed uninterruptedly but also bodes well to do so in the future.

>

>I stress this point because, in this crucial respect, the BJP is indeed a party

>with a difference. I do not wish to comment much upon all other political

>parties. Suffice it to draw two comparisons. The Indian National Congress

>experienced a major split in 1969, within 22 years after Independence. The

>cause of the split was not very complimentary to the party and its original

>ideals. Whatever came to be known as the real Congress got divided again in

>1999. The cause of the split this time was even more unedifying. It remains one

>of the principal factors determining the course of Indian politics even today.

>

>The Communist Party, which is our main ideological adversary, broke up within 19

>years after Independence. It also suffered another split within a few years of

>the first break-up.

>

>In contrast, we have remained a united family. It is obvious that our unity and

>our unique ideological identity have been our greatest sources of strength.

>

>Tribute to Dr. Mookerjee and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya

>

>It is my privilege to remember all those who have lent this exceptional strength

>to our Party. Although organizationally we are 25 years old, our political

>journey started over 50 years ago. It is therefore our sacred duty today to pay

>tribute to Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. They

>showed us the path. We walked on it, and have come this far.

>

>To look back at the road we have traversed is to revisit all those milestones

>that mark out our successes and achievements, as well as our failures and

>setbacks. Disappointments there were many, but none deterred us. Successes too

>have been many, but none has filled us with vanity. At every high and low point

>in the journey, and at each point in between, we tried to draw the right

>lessons and continued to march along the kartavya path (the Path of Duty).

>

>How did we manage this? The answer lies in the ideological inspiration and the

>organizational ethos that we have sought to preserve like the apple of our eye.

>As we celebrate our Party's Rajat Jayanti, our thoughts go out to all those who

>participated in founding the BJP, in building up its solid foundations and in

>erecting an edifice that not only makes us proud but also leaves our critics

>amazed.

>

>First and foremost, I greet our Founder-President and my elder leader, Shri Atal

>Bihari Vajpayee, with whom I have had the honour of working together for over a

>half-century now. Right from the beginning, he has been the sheet anchor of our

>Party. His wisdom, his experience and his personal charisma have no doubt

>immensely helped the growth of the BJP. But in guiding the evolution of the

>Bharatiya Jana Sangh and the BJP since the early '50s, he has also enriched our

>national life like few other living leaders have. The six years of the NDA

>government at the Centre, under his able Prime Ministership, constitute a high

>watermark in our Party's history.

>

>Today I salute the haloed memory of all those who laid down their lives in

>service of the Party. I also pay homage to all those colleagues who were with

>us at the founding of the Party but are now no more.

>

>It is our good fortune that many of them are still amidst us. Some are still

>active. And others, though not as active as before, are still a source of

>inspiration and guidance for their younger colleagues. During the course of the

>Rajat Jayanti year, all such colleagues in different parts of the country

>should be recognized and honoured.

>

>BJP's Samaanya Karyakarta: the True Rajat Jayanti Hero

>

>Today it is also our grateful task to recognize the services and sacrifices of

>all those tens of thousands of our karyakartas who nurtured and protected this

>tender plant called the BJP and raised it into the mighty tree that it has now

>become. The title Samaanya Karyakarta (ordinary activist) carries an Asamaanya

>Gaurav (extraordinary honour) in a cadre-based mass party like the BJP. That

>Samanya Karyakarta is the true hero of this Rajat Jayanti commemoration. His

>commitment, his dedication, his self-sacrificing nature and his struggles are

>of a value to us that cannot be matched by the most precious thing in this

>world.

>

>And when I say 'his', I also mean 'her', because the struggles of our women

>karyakartas often go unnoticed and unrecognized. Moreover, their contribution

>is not only direct and visible, but also indirect and invisible. But for the

>support and toil of our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters at home, I wonder

>how much we would have been able to work for the Party.

>

>Looking Back, Looking Ahead

>

>Dear Colleagues, today as we stand at the vantage point of the 25th anniversary

>of the founding of our Party, it is time to look back and also to look ahead.

>It is time to take stock of what we have gained and what we have lost. It is

>time to evaluate our growth and our service to the nation against the backdrop

>of the needs of the situation and the opportunity it afforded. Above all, as

>befits a forward-looking party that never rests on its laurels, it is time to

>prepare ourselves for the mammoth challenges ahead.

>

>Twenty-five years is a reasonably long time to conduct such an introspective

>exercise. Generally in the timeframe between two elections, it is not possible

>to discern major trends in national politics. Within such narrow reference

>points, it is also not easy to understand the main contours of change in the

>economy, society and other spheres of national life. A span of a

>quarter-century, on the other hand, gives us the needed distance as well as

>detachment to view the developments in their proper perspective.

>

>Our Stand on 'Dual Membership' Vindicated

>

>This wide-angle view of the past reveals several truths. The first is how

>correct our decision to stand firm on the so-called "dual membership" issue

>was, way back in 1979, when we refused to bow to the demands of our friends in

>the Janata Party to sever our links with the RSS. In the aftermath of the

>successful struggle by all the democracy-loving forces against the Emergency

>Rule imposed by the Congress government in 1975, we, who were then working as

>the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, had voluntarily merged our identity in the newly

>formed Janata Party. Unfortunately, rather than working for the stability and

>success of the Janata Party experiment, in which the people of India had pinned

>so much hope, some friends sowed the seeds of dissonance and ultimate

>self-destruction by raising the non-issue of our continued association with the

>RSS. Wittingly or unwittingly, they played into the hands of the Congress

>party, which rode back to power in 1980.

>

>It was a jolting experience for all of us in the Jana Sangh. However, in hind

>sight, these friends in the erstwhile Janata Party did us a favour by removing

>us from the organization on the "dual membership" issue and leaving us with no

>alternative but to constitute ourselves into a new party -- the Bharatiya

>Janata Party. We had to dig our own separate furrow. The quantity of water that

>initially flowed in that channel was modest. Indeed, after the 1984

>parliamentary elections, held in the wake of the tragic assassination of Smt.

>Indira Gandhi, it momentarily appeared as if the channel had completely dried

>up. Some of our adversaries used to joke that by remaining inflexible on the

>'dual membership' issue in 1979, we had condemned ourselves to becoming a

>"dual-member" party in the Lok Sabha in 1984.

>

>How We Rose From the Ashes Like a Phoenix

>

>The Congress and the Communists had gleefully written our political obituary.

>But how dramatically we grew thereafter - from a mere 2 seats in the Lok Sabha

>to 86 in 1989, to 120 in 1991, to 161 in 1996, to 182 in 1998 and to 182 in

>1999. It is only in 2004 that we faced a reversal, when our tally came down to

>138 seats in the Lok Sabha. However, nobody can deny that, in a 25-year

>timeframe, the BJP's overall growth has been nothing short of spectacular.

>

>These figures tell only a part of our success story. How we were sought to be

>ostracized as "political untouchables" by our adversaries; how we stood our

>ground, increased our own strength through dedicated work; how we turned many

>of our earlier adversaries into our allies; how we also won new friends; how

>through all this we broke free of the political isolation that the Congress and

>the Communists had wished us to suffer forever; how all this resulted in the

>triumphant formation of the National Democratic Alliance in 1998; and how the

>NDA defeated the Congress party's destabilization game and succeeded in winning

>a renewed mandate in 1999 -- all this constitutes a glorious chapter in our

>Party's history of the past 25 years.

>

>Ayodhya Movement and the Debate on Secularism

>

>During the past 25 years, one of the principal factors that helped our Party

>catch the imagination of the people was the Ayodhya movement, which was indeed

>the biggest mass movement in India since Independence. The BJP is proud of

>having made its contribution to this movement, which was aimed as much at the

>reconstruction of the temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya as at countering

>a dangerous campaign to denigrate, distort and erase the basic Hindu identity

>of India's nationhood in the name of a perverted notion of 'secularism'. This

>is not the place to dwell on all the twists and turns - some of them

>unfortunate - that this movement has taken, since these developments are well

>known. However, on this important occasion, I must say two things.

>

>One, our Party's commitment to reconstruction of the Ram Temple at the Ram

>Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya remains total, unshakeable and irreversible. We continue

>to believe that a negotiated settlement through dialogue between

>representatives of the Hindu and Muslim communities in an atmosphere of mutual

>trust, goodwill and accommodation is the most desirable route to solving this

>long-pending issue. I am happy to note that there is now consensus in the NDA

>around this approach, which is also endorsed by many representatives of the

>Muslim community. Hence, all those interested in an early and amicable solution

>to the Ayodhya issue should build on this consensus.

>

>Secondly, the Ayodhya movement also triggered a nationwide debate on the true

>meaning of secularism and the roots of our nationhood. Of course, the Congress

>party continues to malign us by calling us "communal", for its own narrow

>vote-bank politics. We need not reiterate here all that we have said on this

>important issue on numerous occasions earlier. I only wish to draw the

>attention of our friends in the Congress party to a resolution of the CWC,

>passed on January 16, 1999, which stated that "Hinduism is the most effective

>guarantor of secularism". No doubt, the UPA government's so-called

>"desaffronisation" and "de-toxification" campaign under the malignant influence

>of the communists does not square with this CWC resolution. Nevertheless, if

>the Congress is still faithful to this resolution, then all those interested in

>promoting genuine secularism and protecting India's cultural and civilisational

>identity can build on this significant point of consensus between the two major

>political parties in our country.

>

>Grasp the Truth about BJP's Association with our Ideological Fraternity

>

>Dear Colleagues, the controversy over the 'dual membership' issue rings no bell

>today. Does this mean that our stand on the issue has no contemporary

>relevance, or no relevance for the future? No, not at all. To think so would be

>a grievous error. Our inflexible stand on our association with the RSS gave us

>a distinct ideological identity, about which we have never been apologetic, nor

>will we ever be. If anything, the BJP's identity as the political constituent

>of the wider nationalist movement remains an immensely helpful source of

>ideological cohesion, organizational unity and political steadfastness.

>

>I would like all our Party functionaries and workers to fully grasp this truth.

>We have a very large constituency of like-minded nationalist organizations that

>support us and work for our success for no other reason than the fact that all

>of us share the same goal to make this holy motherland of ours great once again

>in every respect. No other family of organizations has suffered so much

>sustained vilification from ideological adversaries as this. Yet, none has

>forged ahead so self-confidently, so tirelessly and with so much inner

>conviction as we and our fellow nationalist organizations have.

>

>We must bear in mind that a much larger constituency of patriotic Indians,

>outside the formal reach of the so-called RSS Parivar, also supports the BJP.

>We need to incessantly and persistently strengthen our bonds with organizations

>and individuals in this larger fraternity through mutual dialogue. We should

>strive to understand what their expectations from us are. Similarly, we should

>convey to them the realities in the political domain. Such regular interaction

>in an atmosphere of mutual trust and goodwill will undoubtedly solve many

>problems that otherwise can undermine our collective strength.

>

>Chief Lesson from Elections 2004: We Must Nurse our Ideological and

>Organizational Constituency

>

>I mentioned that our consistently upward growth curve since the parliamentary

>elections in 1989 suffered a reversal for the first time in 2004. This was an

>entirely unexpected setback, so much so that not even our opponents expected us

>to lose. Why did this happen? I have earlier on several occasions commented on

>the likely factors behind this downturn in our electoral fortunes.

>

>No single reason was responsible for our electoral setback. However, if I have

>to mention one of the important reasons on this occasion, a reason that will

>remain valid for long years to come, it is this: We must continually nurse our

>own ideological and organizational constituency. Just as every MP or MLA has to

>nurse his constituency well in order to be able to get re-elected, every

>political party also has to nurse its core constituency of ideological

>supporters and organizational workers in order to be able to win a renewed

>mandate.

>

>During the NDA government's six years in office, we focused so much on issues of

>development and governance that we somehow neglected to pay proper attention to

>this core constituency of ours. We did not remain adequately in contact with

>those who support us and work for us because of our ideology. Also, we somewhat

>ignored our own karyakartas. We failed to address their grievances. And we did

>not always respond to their feedback respectfully. In a sense, we took our core

>constituency for granted, a constituency that has always stood by us in the low

>tide and high tide of politics. This had a definite effect on the outcome of

>the elections.

>

>This is only one of the factors behind our electoral setback. There were several

>others. We must draw the right lessons from this experience. If we do so, I

>have no doubt that the BJP will return to the ascendant path whenever the Lok

>Sabha elections are held next.

>

>I am happy to note that the corrective effort in the Party has already begun.

>This is evident from the positive results achieved in the recent Assembly

>elections in Jharkhand and Bihar.

>

>Gear up to Face Future Challenges

>

>Friends, the political landscape in the country has undergone major changes in

>the past 25 years. We ourselves have made a decisive contribution to bringing

>about these changes. For one, the Congress no longer dominates the Indian

>political scene in the same overwhelming manner that it used to in the decades

>preceding the birth of the BJP. Transforming the one-party rule of the Congress

>into a bi-polar polity, with the BJP emerging as the more cohesive, more

>purposive and more vision-driven of the two poles, has been our Party's

>greatest achievement so far.

>

>But we cannot be content with this achievement.

>

>The Rajat Jayanti of our Party is an occasion to examine, with an unsparingly

>searching attitude, what demands the future makes of us and how we might

>fulfill these demands. According to me, the long-term task that India's future

>requires us to fulfill is this: How do we become stronger with a durable

>all-India presence? If the Congress was the main shaper of India's destiny in

>the first 50 years of our Independence, how can we make the BJP play that role

>in a qualitatively superior manner in the decades ahead? This is not an

>inflated ambition for self-gratification. Nor is it a gambit in the usual

>power-play between two rival political parties. Rather, this aspiration is the

>need of the hour in view of the multiple challenges before India in the years

>ahead.

>

>But We Cannot be Content with this Achievement

>

>The gravest of these challenges is in the area of national security and national

>unity. I do not wish to dwell too much on cross-border terrorism in Jammu &

>Kashmir and the growing menace of naxalism, since our views on these are well

>known. Instead, I shall speak at some length on a danger that, unfortunately,

>very few have begun to recognize as a danger.

>

>As we all know, a long and determined mass movement, full of struggles and

>sacrifices, was required to make India free from foreign yoke in 1947. However,

>India earned freedom by paying a heavy price in the form of its partition. The

>price was extracted by the Muslim League, with willing help from the colonial

>rulers, on the specious theory of Hindus and Muslims constituting "Two

>Nations". Pakistan broke up in 1971 with the liberation of Bangladesh, but that

>was an inevitability caused by its own internal contradictions.

>

>From India's point of view, four ominous developments have taken place after

>1947. Firstly, both Pakistan and Bangladesh have declared themselves as Islamic

>nations. Secondly, both have reneged on the commitment, which was an inviolable

>covenant in the Freedom of India Act 1947, to give due protection and care to

>their minority Hindu populations. Thirdly, both Pakistan and Bangladesh have in

>their own ways harboured and instigated cross-border terrorism and extremism

>directed against India. And, lastly, in the case of Bangladesh, there has been

>a massive infiltration of illegal immigrants into India, which has assumed the

>proportions of a silent, but by no means invisible, "Demographic Invasion" of

>India, especially in the border districts of Assam, West Bengal and other parts

>of the North-East.

>

>Our Party views with utmost concern the sudden and rapidly growing religious

>imbalance in the population of the border districts of Assam and West Bengal.

>This is not a natural phenomenon, but a direct outcome of the "Demographic

>Invasion". Only those who choose to be blind for nefariously selfish reasons

>cannot see the manifest threat which this development poses not only to the

>normal democratic process in the states concerned, but also to the security and

>integrity of India. How can we forget that at the time of Partition certain

>parts of Assam and Bengal, which ought to have remained in India, were included

>in East Pakistan solely on the considerations of religious demography? The BJP

>fully endorses the warning sounded by many non-political experts that the

>rapidly changing religious demography in certain parts of West Bengal, Assam

>and the rest of the North-East, if not immediately checked and reversed, could

>even lead to another partition of India.

>

>Congress-Communists Aiding the Likely Re-Partition of India

>

>When India is faced with such a patent threat, it is the duty of all patriotic

>political parties and organizations to find effective means of neutralizing it.

>Sadly, the Congress party in its present avatar, and its pseudo-secular allies

>like the Communists, have refused to acknowledge this threat even though many

>people in their ranks privately admit to it. Their refusal is purely on account

>of crass vote-bank politics. The most shocking manifestation of this came last

>year when the Census Commissioner made some worrisome disclosures about sharp

>imbalances in the religious demography of Assam. Instead of examining the

>reasons and repercussions of this phenomenon, the Congress-Communist combine

>forced the Census Commission to withdraw his statement.

>

>I charge that, by enslaving themselves to the politics of minorityism, the

>Congress and the Communists are extending a tacit invitation to more

>infiltrators. I also charge that, in response to this dangerous demographic

>aggression in the North-East and West Bengal, they are deliberately disarming

>the legal and administrative organs of the Indian State.

>

>If the Congress and the Communists wish to absolve themselves of this guilt, I

>urge them to accept two suggestions:

>

> *

> They should support the demand for immediate repeal of the IMDT Act

which,

>far from controlling Bangladeshi infiltration has actually served as a legal

>protection for it.

> *

> The Prime Minister should call an all-party meeting to discuss all

aspects

>of the problem of Bangladeshi infiltration with a view to evolving a national

>consensus on ways to effectively deal with it.

>

>Lessons from the Centenary of the Partition of Bengal

>

>Friends, the year 2005 provides an ideal historical context for arousing public

>opinion on the issue of demographic invasion. This is the centenary of the

>Partition of Bengal in 1905 by Lord Curzon. Though not explicitly stated, the

>British effected the partition to separate the predominantly Muslim East Bengal

>from the rest of Bengal and the country. This 'divide-and-rule' policy was to

>culminate in the partition of India forty years later. I urge our Congress and

>Communist friends to look back and see how patriotic Bengalis reacted to this

>evil design. How did patriotic Indians react to it? Why did 'Vande Mataram'

>become the battle-cry of the nationalist movement, if not initially as a chant

>of protest against the partition of Bengal?

>

>Let us recall here the words of Sri Aurobindo, which he wrote as the fiery young

>editor of the journal 'Bande Mataram': "The (British) Government professedly

>wanted to create a Muslim province with Dacca as its capital, and the evident

>object of it was to sow discord between the Hindus and the Muslims in a

>province that had never known it in the whole history."

>

>Now that the creation of Islamic Bangladesh has become a reality, India must

>learn the right lessons from this painful chapter in our history. For let us

>heed the warning: "Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat

>it."

>

>In saying this, I want to make two things clear. Firstly, the BJP views the

>threat of 'Demographic Invasion' not as a Hindu-Muslim issue but as a national

>issue. Only those who do not have the interests of the Indian nation at heart

>will try to obfuscate this threat by calling our Party's stand on the matter

>"communal".

>

>Secondly, the BJP wishes to see friendly and cooperative relations between India

>and Bangladesh as befit two countries whose shared past far outweighs certain

>differences created by recent history. We hope that the government of

>Bangladesh reciprocates India's wish for good-neighbourly relations by agreeing

>to stop infiltration of its nationals and winding up its policy of giving

>shelter to anti-India extremist and terrorist groups.

>

>It is indeed the same sincere wish for peace and cooperation with all our

>neighbours that propelled the NDA government to initiate bold and sustained

>efforts to normalize India's relations with Pakistan. The culmination of this

>endeavour was the Joint Statement issued in Islamabad in January 2004 after

>Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee's meeting with the Pakistani President General Pervez

>Musharraf. In this landmark agreement, Pakistan committed itself to disallowing

>anti-India terrorist groups to operate from Pakistani or Pakistan-controlled

>territory. I am happy to note the UPA government has continued to follow the

>policy initiated by Shri Atalji. We believe that the government of Pakistan

>must exert itself more to fully dismantling the infrastructure of cross-border

>terrorism.

>

>Radical Decisions Needed to Control Population Growth

>

>I made a reference to the Census Report 2001, and the light it throws on some

>disturbing aspects of religious demography. But there is another serious

>warning in the latest census figures. Not only have we crossed the one billion

>mark, but also each year we are adding the equivalent of the total population

>of Australia to our numbers. At this rate, India will become the world's most

>populous nation by 2050. This is not in our national interest.

>

>Clearly, there is an urgent need to rethink our approach to population control

>and to evolve a new strategy to effectively tackle this problem. Experience has

>shown that mere educational and persuasive steps are not sufficient, although

>they too are required. The country needs radical decisions, including statutory

>sanctions for incentives and disincentives. Of course, a national consensus

>will have to be evolved for taking radical decisions. I urge all political

>parties and socio-religious organizations to realize that this problem deserves

>our urgent attention.

>

>As Always, We Must be at the Forefront of the Defence of Democracy

>

>Friends, based on our experience in the past 25 years, it is obvious that the

>future casts a heavy responsibility on the BJP in another area: defense of

>democracy. In 1975, it was the absence of a large and cohesive opposition party

>that goaded Smt. Indira Gandhi to throttle democracy.

>

>The Congress in 2005 is a pale shadow of the Congress in 1975. Nevertheless, as

>the recent sordid developments in Goa and Jharkhand have shown, its

>anti-democracy instincts remain as powerful as ever. Therefore, without a

>strong BJP acting as a deterrent, the Congress would grab the first opportunity

>to run roughshod over the Constitution and all the institutions of democratic

>governance.

>

>Dynastic Politics in the Congress is a Threat to Democracy

>

>Based again on our experience in the past 25 years, there is another important

>area in which our Party will be called upon to serve the cause of Indian

>democracy. This is in the area of leadership. No nation can advance along the

>right path without wise and competent leadership. However, as developments in

>recent decades have shown, the two principal parties in India - namely, the BJP

>and the Congress - rely on two completely contrasting methods to evolve, accept

>and project leadership.

>

>In the BJP, leadership is always decided on merit, dedication and loyalty to the

>Party. Never have we encountered existential questions such as "Who after Dr.

>Mookerjee?" or "Who after Deendayalji?" Even today, we have many promising

>leaders at all levels of the organization who have proved their worth in action

>and who can shoulder higher responsibilities whenever called upon to do so.

>

>In the Congress, too, there was a time when a question such as "Who after

>Nehru?" was heard. But after a brief interlude when Shastriji was the Prime

>Minister, the question has become irrelevant in the Congress party. The

>question "Who after ….?" is always answered beforehand, because the leadership

>of the party has been forever reserved for members of the 'Dynasty'. In this

>respect, the Congress has abjured all faith in democracy, which categorically

>rejects privileges by birth, and has blatantly fallen back to feudal and

>monarchic ways. How can a party that does not follow this basic democratic

>tenet within its own organization be expected to protect and promote democracy

>in the country?

>

>The undemocratic influences of 'Dynastic rule' on the long-cherished

>institutions of governance in India are already all too apparent. Never in the

>history of independent India have we seen such deliberate devaluation of the

>office of the Prime Minister as in the present dispensation. Also, never in the

>past has a ploy like the National Advisory Council been created for its

>chairperson to exercise the power of a 'Super Prime Minister' without any

>accountability to Parliament. I would like all the democracy-loving and

>Constitution-abiding people in our country to deliberate on the long-term

>consequences of such self-serving distortions in our system of governance at

>the very apex level.

>

>Good Governance: Key to Making India a Developed Nation

>

>Friends, the greatest learning experience for our Party since our inception has

>been our six-year rule at the Centre. Notwithstanding the outcome of the last

>parliamentary elections, all unbiased observers have affirmed that this was one

>of the best governments India has had, and Shri Vajpayeeji was one of the best

>prime ministers India has had. All our achievements can be summed up in one

>sentence: India now stands taller in the comity of nations and Indians look to

>the future with unprecedented hope and self-confidence.

>

>At the same time, this experience has also made us realize the enormous gulf

>that still exists between India's potential to become a Developed Nation free

>of poverty, unemployment and every vestige of social and regional disparity,

>and her actual performance. This gulf can be bridged only through Good

>Governance coupled with people's active participation in every sphere of

>nation-building. Of course, no single party can bridge this gap in a

>multi-party democracy like India, where governments change frequently and where

>performance in government does not necessarily lead to electoral success.

>

>It is in this complex situation that our Party is called upon to emerge as the

>people's natural choice for good governance and development. At present, this

>challenge falls on BJP-run governments in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,

>Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa (where we are a partner in the coalition

>government). Those in the party and government in these states must set for

>themselves ambitious targets to fulfill the aspirations of the people. We have

>to convince the people that the BJP will succeed where the Congress and others

>have failed. In this context, it is indeed a matter of pride for the BJP that

>one of our chief ministers, Dr. Raman Singh, was recently adjudged by a reputed

>newsmagazine as the "Best Chief Minister in India".

>

>Main Task Before the Party: Consolidation + Expansion

>

>Dear Colleagues, by mentioning national security, national unity, defence of

>democracy, development and good governance, I have tried to delineate some of

>the principal challenges that the BJP will be called upon to deal with in the

>coming years and decades. That the Congress is incapable of handling these

>challenges is obvious. This makes the responsibility on us even greater.

>

>If our Party has to shoulder this historic responsibility, we must augment our

>strength in every respect -- ideological, organizational, political, and in the

>idealism and competence of our leading cadres. What this entails in specific

>terms is described in the "Tasks Ahead" document. I urge every unit of the

>Party to discuss this document and to implement its directions.

>

>The central task before the Party can be encapsulated in two words:

>"Consolidation plus Expansion".

>

>We must consolidate our base in states where the BJP has remained traditionally

>strong. In those states where we have posted impressive growth in recent years,

>we must ensure that our gains become durable. In states where we were strong

>until recently but have since slipped, we must strive to recover lost ground.

>In this category, the biggest challenge before us is how to achieve speedy

>revival in Uttar Pradesh. I urge our colleagues in UP to self-critically

>examine all the factors behind the slide-down we have suffered in this

>politically important state and apply correctives.

>

>An equally big challenge is how to expand our support base in those large states

>where our presence still remains only marginal. Since the aggregate number of

>parliamentary seats from these states is fairly large, the BJP can ill afford

>to continue to have a meagre share from this category of states. Our colleagues

>in each of these states should analyse the socio-political-organisational

>reasons that have stifled the BJP's growth and implement an expansion strategy

>with determination. All of us would especially like to see the BJP grow rapidly

>in the land of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, West Bengal, where the people are

>yearning for deliverance from 30 years of communist misrule and terror.

>

>I congratulate our colleagues in the North-East for expanding, with their

>tireless efforts, the

>

>BJP's base in a region whose importance to India far outweighs its size or

>population. Over the years, we have succeeded in having elected representatives

>not only in Assam, but also in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur and

>Nagaland. The performance of the NDA government -- as seen in the successful

>conclusion of the Bodo accord, initiation of peace talks with Naga groups and

>several other initiatives -- has dispelled many misconceptions about the BJP in

>this region. In the years to come, our Party is resolved to further expand its

>work in the North-East, by highlighting the needs of its development and

>embracing every ethnic, linguistic and religious community in this fascinating

>region of India.

>

>Sarva-Sparshi Party for a Samarasata-Yukt Samaj

>

>The message of "Consolidation plus Expansion" also holds true for our support

>base in different sections of society. I have spoken about the need to make the

>BJP Sarva-vyapi -- a formidable presence in all states of the country. The

>other side of this aspiration is to make the BJP Sarva-sparshi -- having

>influence in, and drawing support from, all sections of our diverse society.

>

>The past 25 years are a testimony to our ability to steadily widen our appeal

>among different castes and communities. In state after state, we have disproved

>our adversaries' prophesies that the BJP can never win support in this or that

>section of Indian society. We must continue to do so. The political benefit of

>these efforts is obvious. But of far greater importance is the benefit to the

>nation, since our success in this endeavour will greatly strengthen the cause

>of social harmony and equitable development.

>

>This is because our approach to this issue is very different from that of many

>other parties. There are many divisive forces in our country that seek, or

>claim to seek, the welfare of this or that part of society without caring for

>the society as a whole. Similarly, some people champion the identity of this or

>that part without bothering about our larger national identity. Our society and

>polity have suffered enormously due to such sectarian politics. For example, we

>have seen how a party in Bihar profaned the noble ideal of 'social justice' to

>inflict on the state a regime of corruption, criminalization, caste conflict

>and communal appeasement for 15 long years. In contrast to these flawed and

>dangerous approaches, our Party holds that the strength of the parts of our

>diverse society is guaranteed by the strength of the whole, just as the

>strength of the whole is derived from the strength of its parts. Which is why,

>we have always been on the side of Samajik Nyay (social justice) with Samajik

>Samarasata (social harmony).

>

>In light of the needs of our own political growth for the larger good of Indian

>society, I would like our Party to make concerted and sustained efforts to

>expand its base among the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward and Most

>Backward Classes, and all sections of the poor and the neglected, including

>those among Muslims and Christians.

>

>Re-Orient Reforms Agenda to Focus on Gaon, Gareeb, Kisan, Mazdoor

>

>We should especially widen our work in rural areas and among kisans. It bothers

>me that our Party's capacity to give voice to the woes of our kisans and other

>sections of India's rural population, such as artisans, has not kept pace with

>the speed at which they are mounting. For instance, what can be more worrisome

>and shameful than to hear that hundreds of our farmers in different parts of

>the country have been forced to commit suicide to escape their plight?

>

>It has also become necessary for the Party to expand its work among unionized

>workers and employees, those engaged in the rapidly expanding services sector,

>and, above all, among crores of people eking out a living in the unorganized

>informal sector. In this context, we have to recognize that although policy of

>economic reforms has made India more prosperous and strong -- and our

>commitment to reforms is irreversible -- its benefits are slow in reaching the

>poor, both rural and urban. It has also not adequately and satisfactorily

>addressed the imperative need to provide gainful employment to every youth.

>

>I therefore call upon all patriotic economists, development experts and policy

>makers and implementers to evolve a progressive re-orientation to the reforms

>process. It should no doubt be able to utilize every boon of science and

>technology and seize every opportunity that today's globalised economy offers.

>But its principal aim should be to unleash the limitless productive potential

>of one billion Indians, and also guarantee a better standard living for all of

>them. For this, it should be based on a creative re-formulation of the concepts

>of Swadeshi and Swavalamban -- which means nothing more and nothing less than

>what is required for transforming India into a self-reliant, prosperous, strong

>and integrally Developed Nation with the collective efforts of Indians

>themselves.

>

>Make BJP the Voice and Choice of Young India

>

>My Dear Party Colleagues, I shall make two last observations on what we must do

>to expand the Party's support base and to earn the goodwill of the people on a

>durable basis.

>

>Firstly, looking at the challenges and opportunities ahead, we must take

>multiple steps to strengthen the BJP's appeal to the youth and make our Party

>the voice and choice of Young India. The urgency of this task is self-evident

>when one considers that 65% of India's population today is less than 35 years

>of age. Our Party should acquire a youthful image by espousing issues that

>catch the imagination of this population and by promoting promising young

>leaders at all levels.

>

>Needless to say, ours is a Party that values both experience and fresh blood,

>both wisdom that comes with age and dynamism that is the hallmark of the youth.

>In this sense, the BJP is like a robust ever-growing tree -- spreading its

>roots deep and wide and yet sporting luxuriant new branches with each new

>season.

>

>Make Samrachana an Integral Part of BJP Politics

>

>All of us know that when we founded the BJP in 1980, our Founder-President Shri

>Vajpayeeji had given this Party three mantras - Sangathan (Organisation),

>Sangharsh (Struggle) and Samrachana (Constructive Activity). We have a lot to

>show for our performance on the first two counts in the past 25 years. Many

>individual members and functionaries of our Party have on their own established

>exemplary models in constructive activity. However, a time has come when the

>Party should put the entire weight of its organization behind such work.

>

>I say this for two obvious reasons. Firstly, we must also recognize that in

>recent decades, the importance of voluntary organizations or NGOs in different

>walks of our national life has grown immensely. Secondly, wherever our

>karyakartas have founded or patronized NGOs that are seen to be doing good

>work, they have unfailingly earned people's goodwill both for themselves and

>for the BJP. For example, one of our MPs in Karnataka has, along with his wife,

>founded an NGO that runs a mid-day meal scheme to feed as many as 54,000 needy

>schoolchildren in Bangalore everyday. Another MP in Rajasthan runs a similar

>mid-day meal programme that benefits 20,000 children in his constituency.

>

>Similarly, some of our leaders in Maharashtra have founded cooperatives that

>have established factories, schools, colleges and hospitals. Similar examples

>are there in every state, and each has benefited both the society and our

>Party.

>

>All this prompts me to make an appeal to you today. On the occasion of the Rajat

>Jayanti of our Party, let our entire Party rededicate itself to adopting

>'Samrachana' as an integral part of our politics. Specifically, I call upon

>every active member of the Party to get associated with at least one seva

>(service) or vikas (development) project of his or her choice. We should also

>set some energizing targets for the entire Party to pursue, targets in four

>important areas that can catch the imagination of the nation.

>

>For example, can't we decide that a large number of our MPs and MLAs will get

>associated with the Mid-Day Meal programme and cumulatively cover a million

>needy children over the next five years? Yes, we can. Can't we decide that

>every BJP karyakarta will plant, and protect, at least one Rajat Jayanti tree

>this year, a campaign that could make a tangible contribution to a greener

>India? Yes, we can. And shouldn't the BJP be seen to be committed to making

>India cleaner? Yes, we must.

>

>One last suggestion: Shouldn't every local unit of our Party be involved in some

>project of water conservation, considering that clean water is likely to become

>a scare resource in the decades ahead? Yes, we must. I am directing our General

>Secretaries and other central office-bearers to evolve a proper plan and

>structure to guide this effort.

>

>Destiny has Willed the BJP to Become Stronger to Make India Stronger

>

>My dear colleagues, today we have reached an important milestone in our Party's

>onward journey. This Yatra will continue. New people will join, new karyakartas

>will emerge, new leaders will lead this Party in the years and decades to come,

>and new milestones will be reached. What matters is what each one of us gives

>to the Party, and not what the Party gives to us. What matters is what each one

>of us gives to the Nation, and not what the Nation gives to us. Because it is

>the desire to serve the Nation that has made us choose to serve this great

>Party. Let us ask ourselves: What mission brought us into politics?

>Nationalism. What inspiration has sustained us? Patriotism. How often haven't

>we said to ourselves in our private contemplative moments as well as on

>collective affirmative occasions -- Tera Vaibhav Amar Rahe Maa, Hum Din Char

>Rahe Na Rahe? Let us repeat those profound words yet again on this occasion.

>

>In my political life, I have both experienced and observed that, whenever we let

>a lofty goal guide us, we were invariably able to rise above ourselves. We

>unfailingly overcame our individual and organizational weaknesses. We always

>could face the severest of challenges with confidence and hope. May we

>therefore never lose sight of the goal for which we have chosen to be in

>politics and chosen, further, to be in the BJP. That goal is to make India

>stronger -- in every sense of the term. And destiny has willed the BJP to

>become stronger for this goal to be attained. A weak instrument can never serve

>a big goal. If we cannot be a party with a difference, how can we claim to make

>a difference to society? This is why, I am often distressed, just as millions

>of our well-wishers are distressed, when I see a BJP person conduct himself in

>a manner that is not in keeping with our ideals and principles.

>

>Therefore, I have said that the Rajat Jayanti year is as much an occasion for

>introspection as it is for celebration. Let us use this occasion to do some

>honest soul-searching and to apply necessary correctives wherever needed.

>

>The National Executive, which met yesterday, has drawn up an extensive -- and if

>I may add, ambitious -- plan of activities as a part of our commemoration of

>the Rajat Jayanti year. It will be presented before the National Council

>shortly. I urge all of you to put up an exemplary show of parishram (hard work)

>and samuhik prayas (collective effort) to make these activities successful for

>the Party and fulfilling for each one of us. When we meet in Mumbai for the

>Maha Adhiveshan towards the end of December, we should be in a position to say

>to ourselves: "We did a good job!"

>

>Just as, looking back to our Foundation Day on April 6, 1980, we can today say

>to ourselves: "We've done a good job!"

>

>Thank you.

>

>Vande Mataram!

>

>

>

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