Good BJP, bad BJP

There's no better way to explain this. The BJP needs to brush up its good cop-bad cop technique. Used by most police departments, in this form of interrogation, the 'bad cop' takes a rather aggressive stance towards a suspect, often using force, to intimidate him. This sets the stage for the 'good cop' to step in by showing sympathy for the suspect. The suspect feels it's better to trust and cooperate with the 'good cop' and avoid further interaction with the 'bad cop'. He may then give away the needed information. The technique is useful against subjects who are young, frightened, or na ve.

The Indian electorate, unfortunately for the BJP, is neither na ve, nor frightened.u00a0 Not any more. Which explains the NDA's drubbing in the last two Lok Sabha polls. Varun Gandhi's hate speech against Muslims didn't change the fortunes of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. Neither did LK Advani's tirades against Manmohan Singh's 'weakness' in dealing with terror.

But it has to be admitted that this is one technique the party had once perfected. It maintained a modernist image in urban centres, but was forced to practice hard Hindutva in the interiors by the RSS. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the face of the BJP, it was left to Advani to saddle the rath and those like Uma Bharti, then with the BJP, to deliver hate speeches. When Advani was at the helm of affairs, leaders like Varun were assigned the task of keeping the heartland happy.

BJP leaders portrayed the image of a progressive party in Delhi's television studios while outfits like the Bajrang Dal and the Sree Ram Sene that allegedly had their tacit support went about raping nuns, burning churches and attacking women in pubs. This technique worked to a certain degree. For urban voters, the BJP came to stand for a right-of-centre, anti-Congress political formation that would fast-track liberalisation.u00a0

But after the last Lok Sabha drubbing, it seems, the 'bad BJP' has taken over the 'good BJP'. Even in cities. Perhaps the party feels it's time to go back to basics and bring to the fore its exclusionist, obscurantist agenda. What else explains the attack on a media office last Friday, with BJP leaders coming forward to defend it on national television later? Or for that matter the support that is being extended to those being investigated for spreading 'Hindu terror'?

It's too early to predict whether the party will gain from this. It seems unlikely that such agenda alone will stop UPA III from taking shape. Meanwhile, those that saw it as a party with a difference are desperately searching for the 'good BJP'. And another Vajpayee.u00a0