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This Document is Part of the Public Library of US Diplomacy
Classified By: Charge Robert O. Blake, Jr. for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)
1. (C) Summary: Facing multiple crises, including electoral lethargy, growing ideological divides and an uncertain leadership succession, the BJP is drifting further to the right in an attempt to rouse its Hindutva base. The imminent departure of former PM Vajpayee and Party President Advani has energized the party's Hindu fundamentalist wing, which has called for these leaders' immediate resignation, and is trying to compel the party to return to a Hindu nationalist plank which includes anti-Americanism. Advani publicly announced a return to Hindutva ideology to assuage the Sangh Parivar (Hindu organizations), but this may not be enough (Only 25 percent of those polled by "India Today" in January thought it would help). Anecdotal evidence suggests that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi could be the most popular leader in the BJP and there is increasing momentum to make him the party figurehead and next choice for Prime Minister. Such a move would unite India's secular parties, marginalize the BJP, and presage electoral disaster. Modi bears permanent resentment against the USG for his recent "humiliation," and there is widespread opposition in the party to the US offer of F-16's for Pakistan, which will likely come to center stage when Parliament returns to business on April 20. Modi's ascension would harden the BJP stance toward the US and make cooperation more difficult. Vajpayee has not made his intentions known, but may have trouble keeping the Hindutva forces in check. End Summary.
The Modi Imbroglio ------------------
2. (U) The BJP reacted harshly to the revocation of Chief Minister Narendra Modi's visa by the USG, and he continues to paint himself as a persecuted martyr, stating on April 18 that the "main reason" for his visa denial was because he "does not allow religious conversions in his state." Party President LK Advani earlier came to Modi's aid, calling the visa denial "highly objectionable" and characterizing as "wrong" the Ambassador's statement that the decision applied only to Modi and not the BJP or the Gujarati community.
3. (U) The visa revocation set off a series of anti-American diatribes by BJP columnists, led by the pro-BJP "Pioneer," which attempted to argue that the US launched an anti-India policy by revoking Modi's visa, denying entry to Shia cleric Kalbe Sadiq, and threatening to veto World Bank/IMF loans to India if it does not take concerted steps against human trafficking. "Pioneer" columnist Kanchan Gupta accused "analysts based at the American Embassy in New Delhi" of engineering the revocation to "score brownie points with the UPA regime."
4. (U) Going a step further, other BJP columnists accused the US of hypocrisy," dredging up alleged American sins from Hiroshima, Vietnam, the Cold War, Abu Gharib and Guantanamo, and dismissing a US human rights policy that makes "mountains out of molehills that aren't its business." The "Pioneer" noted that "India is too civilized to have a 'preemptive' Bible telling that other people's human rights weigh less than its own."
5. (C) As the leading opposition party the BJP has also recently taken several policy stances that oppose US positions. While in power, the BJP strongly advocated a Patent Bill and the introduction of a Value Added Tax (VAT) as part of its economic reform policy. The BJP also introduced "bus diplomacy" to normalize relations with Pakistan. In opposition, the party has (at least temporarily) come out against the VAT and the Patent Bill, as well as the recently inaugurated bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad.
Classified By: Charge Robert O. Blake, Jr. for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)
1. (C) Summary: Facing multiple crises, including electoral lethargy, growing ideological divides and an uncertain leadership succession, the BJP is drifting further to the right in an attempt to rouse its Hindutva base. The imminent departure of former PM Vajpayee and Party President Advani has energized the party's Hindu fundamentalist wing, which has called for these leaders' immediate resignation, and is trying to compel the party to return to a Hindu nationalist plank which includes anti-Americanism. Advani publicly announced a return to Hindutva ideology to assuage the Sangh Parivar (Hindu organizations), but this may not be enough (Only 25 percent of those polled by "India Today" in January thought it would help). Anecdotal evidence suggests that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi could be the most popular leader in the BJP and there is increasing momentum to make him the party figurehead and next choice for Prime Minister. Such a move would unite India's secular parties, marginalize the BJP, and presage electoral disaster. Modi bears permanent resentment against the USG for his recent "humiliation," and there is widespread opposition in the party to the US offer of F-16's for Pakistan, which will likely come to center stage when Parliament returns to business on April 20. Modi's ascension would harden the BJP stance toward the US and make cooperation more difficult. Vajpayee has not made his intentions known, but may have trouble keeping the Hindutva forces in check. End Summary.
The Modi Imbroglio ------------------
2. (U) The BJP reacted harshly to the revocation of Chief Minister Narendra Modi's visa by the USG, and he continues to paint himself as a persecuted martyr, stating on April 18 that the "main reason" for his visa denial was because he "does not allow religious conversions in his state." Party President LK Advani earlier came to Modi's aid, calling the visa denial "highly objectionable" and characterizing as "wrong" the Ambassador's statement that the decision applied only to Modi and not the BJP or the Gujarati community.
3. (U) The visa revocation set off a series of anti-American diatribes by BJP columnists, led by the pro-BJP "Pioneer," which attempted to argue that the US launched an anti-India policy by revoking Modi's visa, denying entry to Shia cleric Kalbe Sadiq, and threatening to veto World Bank/IMF loans to India if it does not take concerted steps against human trafficking. "Pioneer" columnist Kanchan Gupta accused "analysts based at the American Embassy in New Delhi" of engineering the revocation to "score brownie points with the UPA regime."
4. (U) Going a step further, other BJP columnists accused the US of hypocrisy," dredging up alleged American sins from Hiroshima, Vietnam, the Cold War, Abu Gharib and Guantanamo, and dismissing a US human rights policy that makes "mountains out of molehills that aren't its business." The "Pioneer" noted that "India is too civilized to have a 'preemptive' Bible telling that other people's human rights weigh less than its own."
5. (C) As the leading opposition party the BJP has also recently taken several policy stances that oppose US positions. While in power, the BJP strongly advocated a Patent Bill and the introduction of a Value Added Tax (VAT) as part of its economic reform policy. The BJP also introduced "bus diplomacy" to normalize relations with Pakistan. In opposition, the party has (at least temporarily) come out against the VAT and the Patent Bill, as well as the recently inaugurated bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad.
