New Delhi, June 10: Most media pundits and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters were surprised with the party’s performance in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. It was always in doubt whether the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance would reach the magical figure of 272, but optimists believed that post-electoral alliances could help.
After the death of Lokmanya Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi took total charge of the Congress. Somewhere along the way, he felt that representing Hindus alone would not enable him to be India’s foremost leader, so he sought support of the Muslim community by supporting the Khilafat Movement in 1919 (protests by Indian Muslims against the abolishing of the Caliphate in Turkey) and Hindu Muslim unity.
L K Advani was respected by most Hindus. He too felt that the dream of becoming prime minister could be realised only when he became acceptable to the Muslims and allies who had Muslim support. The visible point of his transformation from a Hindutva warrior to a secular person was his visit to the Jinnah mausoleum in Pakistan and his controversial remarks during a visit to Karachi in June 2005. Advani, thus sought to become secular, as the Congress leaders have been, for over 75 years. This required him to ignore Hindu concerns and pain, overlook Islamic terrorism and Christian evangelism.
Ironically the man who coined the term ‘pseudo-secularism’ for the Congress, became one himself.
—Agencies–