Comments

With election round the bend, it's time for some political comments.

What is the mantra for BJP's unexpected success? Isn't astonishing that a party which was once on the fringes of Indian polity is now occupying the centrestage?

From a party with just two members in the Parliament in 1980, it is now heading the ruling alliance. Quite phenomenal! But how did it happen? It did not happen overnight.

The Congessisation of BJP started taking place in the last decade of the 20th century, when the party tried to co-opt with the system. At the same time, keeping contentious issues alive it ensured that it fuelled the majoritarian sentiments. It did everything that the Congress had been practising for the last several decades. It played up the sectarian and communal cards in the same way the Congress had reaped political benefits by killing numeruous Sikhs. And who can forget Shah Bano.

It's an endless topic. Tomorrow i have to cover a press conference. So, will wind it up for the day.