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| Not abandoning Hindutva: Advani | | | AGENCIES
New Delhi, June 21: Grappling with the electoral debacle, the BJP on Sunday sent out a strong message that it was not giving up Hindutva nor severing its links with the RSS but party veteran L K Advani called for immediate halt to blamegame and bickering being aired in the media.
Already smarting under attacks from senior leaders like Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, the two-day national executive of the BJP, which concluded today, also witnessed heated exchange of words between Maneka Gandhi and two Muslim leaders on Varun Gandhi's hate speeches and Chief Ministers cautioning leaders against ignoring the Muslims.
In the first major speech on the party's performance, Advani, whose bid for Prime Ministership failed in the elections, said honest introspection was necessary but open airing of views is wrong.
"We should not be found wanting in honest introspection. But introspection is different from finger-pointing. Let us treat the outcome of the elections as behooves a mature and highly resilient party," he said in his concluding remarks at the executive.
In a veiled reference to the attacks by leaders like Jaswant Singh, Sinha and Shourie, Advani said leaders and workers should feel that there is an internal mechanism where even critical views can be placed.
"The only constraint on the participants in this exercise, which is an important part of the BJP's culture of discipline, is that they should not air their critical views in public," he said.
Advani said in the aftermath of the defeat, two issues have been raised in public discourse as also within the BJP about its relations with the RSS and the correct meaning of Hindutva.
The political resolution adopted by the executive said Hinduism or Hindutva was not to be understood or construed narrowly, confined only to religious practices or expressed in extreme forms.
"Theocracy or any form of bigotry is alien to our ethos......It (Hindutva) is inclusive representing the finest imprints of our cultural and civilization ideas with which the BJP is proud to be associated. Giving equal treatment to all regardless of their personal faith is integral to this idea. The BJP reiterates its commitments to these ideas," the resolution said.
During the debate, two Muslim leaders Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Shahnawaz Hussain clashed with Maneka Gandhi who accused one of them of "planting" stories in the media. The clash took place against the backdrop of the two leaders attacking her son Varun Gandhi's hate speeches against the minorities, which they felt had cost the party dearly.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, who spoke in the executive, were also were critical of Maneka's views that the party need not not bother much about the Muslims since they do not vote for BJP.
Ignoring calls for redefining party's relationship with the RSS and the Hindutv, Advani recalled party's history and its severance of links with the Janata party on the issue of dual membership.
"For many in the BJP like me, association with the RSS has been a life-changing event. .....At our office bearers meeting two eminent Muslim colleagues of ours affirmed their faith in Hindutva, but cautioned against any narrow bigoted anti-Muslim interpretation being put on it," he said.
Advani called for "corrective action" and said that three areas require serious attention. First was that the BJP seemed to be plateuing in some states which were its strongholds and have suffered big reverses in some others.
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