Re: a victory of sorts in india...

[Louis Proyect]

Q: YOU MENTIONED the Congress Party and its decline as one of the 
factors that led to the rise of the BJP. The Congress had historically 
been identified with what is known as the "Nehruvian legacy" of centrist 
and social-democratic policies. Why did it begin to bury that legacy?

A: THE CONGRESS began to shift to the right in the 1980s, both 
economically and politically. Historically it had always come to power 
on a centrist program, reflecting its varied social base, including the 
lower sections of Indian society. For decades, the leaders of Muslims, 
tribals and dalits–often known as the "core minorities"–had been content 
to act as brokers for the Congress Party, delivering votes to the party 
while extending their own networks of patronage.

Contrary to what many commentators think, the rise of the New Right is 
not what causes the decline of the old social-democratic left or center, 
rather it is the other way around, both here and worldwide. This is 
similar to the rise of Reaganism and Thatcherism in the eighties.

The 1960s and 1970s saw alternatives to the Congress emerging at the 
state level, thanks to the growing volatility among the poorer sections 
of society. This instability forced the Congress to look to other 
sources for its support, but to this day it hasn’t figured out either 
its program or what are its most reliable bases. As it shifted to the 
right, it sought to consolidate its new mass base among the Indian 
middle class.

The rise of the BJP is preceded by the decline of the Congress. Since 
the 1970s, three non-Congress centrist-type parties have come to power, 
but they were unable to hold onto power for a full term. Interspersed 
within this period, the Congress did come to power again, but for the 
first time in its history as a minority government. It is only after 
this experience of various centrist failures that the BJP is able to 
come to power in 1996, although it is unable to hold onto power for more 
than 13 days. Then the BJP finally takes power in 1998 in a coalition 
government.

As a result of the Congress’s decline, two forces benefited. First, 
there were forces in the north connected to caste politics. Second, the 
emergence of the right-wing and reactionary elements like the RSS 
[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]. The BJP actually moved forward by 
building the most significant mass movement since independence; a 
reactionary mass movement (which demolished the Babri Masjid) that is 
extremely successful. As a result, it has succeeded in shifting the 
center of gravity of politics to the right.

The Congress is a party today that is bereft of any clear ideas, and is 
pursuing a softer version of Hindutva. On key questions–foreign policy, 
the bomb, neoliberalism–it has no clear idea of a different program than 
that of the BJP. While the BJP’s fortunes might go up and down, politics 
as a whole are being pulled to the right. For the bourgeoisie, it 
doesn’t really matter who’s in power, except that the BJP might be 
somewhat unstable because of its aggressive Hindutva, but overall, it 
doesn’t really matter since their material interests will anyway be served.

full: http://www.isreview.org/issues/33/vanaik.shtml

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