The Talented Mr Jaitley

Anyone following the BJP and its leaders would have noticed that almost each and every of its top leaders have suffered strong negative portrayals by the media. While some leaders certainly enjoy a much more positive image, even they had had their share of brickbats. This is fair, isn’t it? For human nature is not uni-dimensional and what is acceptable or liked by the other may be abhorred by some other person. No one, be it Vivekanand, Gandhi, Patel has been immune to their brigade of haters, so why should any BJP walla be any different?

So, the now venerable Vajpayee had his legion of admirers but suffered an occasional jab. Advani and Modi of course are devils incarnate or Hindu messiahs the way you would look at it while the ilk of Uma Bharati, Sushma Swaraj and Pramod Mahajan were usually dismissed as temperamental, shrill or unscrupulous by most who chose to write about them.

Of these, one name stands out, that of the suave lawyer politician, Arun Jaitley. Mr Jaitley is perhaps the only BJP politician who can claim company with the likes of Gulam Nabi Azad, Manmohan Singh et al, who never have any adverse comment against them from any section of the media. And certainly, Mr Jaitely has earned his laurels. Isn’t he a moderate, sophisticated, articulate, successful professionally and another right man in the wrong party? Wasn’t it his famed strategy, which won the BJP election after state election? So why should there have been any finger pointed at Mr Jaitley?

This is not about whether Mr Jaitley deserves to be criticized for anyone at all. It is about the wonderment which accompanies the realization that Mr Jaitley seems to have no detractors at all in the media, something which make him so unique in the Sangh Parivar.

Let us get back in time. Mr Jaitley gained into prominence only during the later half of the 1999 – 2004 BVajpayee Government. While always known among the more able ministers of the Government, he gained prominence as a strategist post election victories in Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh in the 2003 electoral polls. Till these elections, BJP’s tale in assembly elections post 1998, had only been a repetitive saga of failure and so the victory became all the more outstanding. It is another matter that the strategists for even these lost elections were the same and that Madhya Pradesh was anyways waiting to fall in the lap of the BJP, post ten years of mis governance by Digvijay Singh led Congress Government.

Of course, with the murder of Pramod Mahajan, Arun Jaitley came to occupy the position of master strategist.

But lest we digress, let us get back to the saga of expulsion of Uma Bharati from the BJP. Uma’s first suspension from the party was triggered by her outburst against rootless people who gave ‘off the record’ statement to the press, which in turn was triggered by LK Advani’s homily against infighting. It is anybody’s guess as to who were these ‘off the record’ statement givers in the BJP.

I am no fan of Rajnath Singh and honestly, few people would be enamoured of his vision and working style. But the type of vitriol heaped on him by the press comes across as motivated and guided by someone pulling some strings.

The media regularly credits Mr Jaitley with victories in Assembly elections of Karnataka, MP and Bihar. But by the same logic, no blame is apportioned to him for losses in West Bengal, UP and Delhi. Uma Bhartai is regularly lampooned for her indiscipline, but Mr Jaitley’s sulk against Rajnath Singh on the Sudhanshu Mittal case is high morality. That he has chosen to vacation in United Kingdom while the BJP National Executive is on, is after all, a well deserved rest for the hard working strategist of the company.

Media has gone to town over the reasons behind BJP’s loss, blaming everybody under the Sun except for Mr Jaitley, the prime architect of the campaign.

Regular leaks are a feature of the BJP, more so since the BJP lost power in 2004 elections. It is again anybody’s guess as to who the source for these losses is. Ever since the current loss, there are steady and regular stories in the media which pinpoint the cause of loss to some person or factor. Quite a lot of people have criticized Mr Advani’s continuation as the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha for he was the losing leader. Likewise, many have been critical of Sushma Swaraj’s choice as the Deputy Leader for, for many of the critics, she stands for a shrill, belan wielding middle class woman, who has no place in the Indian polity. But, there are hardly any critics for Mr Jaitley becoming the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, even though he was the master strategist of the election and himself lacks any mass base or even a following in the party.

Mr Jaitley has built lots of friends in the media. His bonding with the media is such that even for the cash for vote scam in the parliament, he chose a channel whose aim in life is to lampoon and condemn everything that the BJP stands for.

It is nice to be an individual who is loved by all and sundry. But to be a public figure who is above reproach is dangerous and an indicator of a highly manipulative mindset. On the positive, it speaks of the immense caliber of the person in question. Not even his worst enemies would have anything less that highest admiration for Mr Jaitley’s acumen and intellect. It is however, the BJP, which needs to pause and reflect as to how it has benefitted from Mr Jaitley’s media management.