BJP worried about the falling mask?

The mask of BJP is falling apart,that too so close to a General Election. This time the great grand son of Jawaharlal Nehru,Varun Gandhi tried to be more 'Hindutva' than his fellow party men.
Also the media is [again] under attack for broadcasting the video of Varun Gandhi's 'Hate speech'. What did he say?



At an election meeting in Banderkheda in Pilibhit Varun Gandhi said “This is not a hand [Congress symbol], it is the power of lotus [BJP symbol]. It will cut the head of …” He concluded with “Jai Shri Ram.

”While “Jai Shri Ram” was his battle cry at roadside meetings or assemblies, some of the other slogans used were Gau hatya rukwana hai, Varun Gandhi ko jitana hai (cow slaughter must stop, Varun Gandhi must win) and Varun nahin yeh aandhi hai, doosra Sanjay Gandhi hai (Varun Gandhi is like a storm, he is another Sanjay Gandhi).

Interesting reactions from Sangh Parivar and Varun

Varun Gandhi said that the tapes of his speech aired by some channels were “doctored” and there was a “political conspiracy” to defame him.It seems that Mr. Gandhi planned to address a press conference at the party office. But permission was not given.Following this, Mr. Gandhi addressed select media representatives at his mother Maneka Gandhi’s residence.


Communal remarks by Varun Gandhi, were strongly criticised by the party’s two Muslim faces – Shahnawaz Hussain and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi – but some other leaders preferred to say that they had not heard the speech, which was was telecast by several channels.

Mr. Hussain said he had conveyed his strong protest to the senior party leadership, including party president Rajnath Singh and its prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani.
A few leaders in the party admitted that this, added to the fact that so far the BJP has cleared only two Muslim candidates, would certainly push back Mr. Advani’s attempt to present the BJP as the “true secular party” with others like the Congress and the Left being “pseudo secular.”



Mr. Naqvi did not deny that Mr. Gandhi used unacceptable language against Muslims, but said that this was because of his past “Congress culture,” although he was not able to say when Mr. Varun Gandhi was with the Congress, for he has been with the BJP well before he reached the age of contesting the Lok Sabha polls.

Mr Naqvi must have been mentioning the Congress legacy of Varun Gandhi.

Why Varun was given the Party ticket by the BJP? Must be just to cash in on his Nehruvian legacy. So it is ironic that the same legacy is blamed now.

The Shiv Sena has come out strongly in support of Varun Gandhi.
In an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamna on Wednesday, the Sena even expressed its admiration for Varun’s father Sanjay Gandhi, saying if he was alive the Congress would not have been so wishy-washy on the issue of fundamentalism in the Muslim community.
The editorial says that Mr. Varun Gandhi, was indeed speaking the truth.
Waxing eloquence on Mr. Gandhi, the editorial observes that the young man is a forceful reminder of his father. It is like Sanjay Gandhi is reborn and speaking through his son. The Bajrang Dal and Viswa Hindu Parishad has also come with statements supporting Varun.

This opinion on Sanjay Gandhi is interesting because the Jan Sangh[old BJP] was a part of Janata Party in 1977 while it succesfully fought against the Indira/Sanjay Gandhi dictatorial Emergency regime.Mr Advani was part of that struggle.What is his opinion now about the actions of Sanjay Gandhi?

BJP is confused and is trying to gauge the mood of the voters. It wants to put some distance between Varun's hate speech and itself so that the Party is acceptable to Secular Hindus.At the same time in secret like Shiv Sena,they must have loved the speech and must be proud of the fact that the Great grand son of Nehru has really become a 'proud Hindu'.

Reports compiled from 'The Hindu' of March 18th and 19th.