Nitin Nabin's selection is a bold political decision by the Two Gujaratis.
When Rahul Gandhi has resurrected the issue of social justice, the BJP and the Two Gujaratis are sticking to their plan and agenda, explains Sheela Bhatt.
For the last two-three years I frequently hear two words in my conversations with politicians and members of the Delhi media -- 'Two Gujaratis!'
Critics and observers inside and outside the BJP, some eternally disgruntled individuals in the national capital, enemies and adversaries of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah address them thus: 'Two Gujaratis'.
Mostly, I hear this phrase when people are angry with Messrs Modi and Shah. Right now, most of them are!
Modi's critics think the party that was led by no less than Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Atal Bihari Vajpayee will now be led by Nitin Nabin Sinha, a politician from Bihar whose direct participation in or contribution to national politics is nil.
More so, he is a son of a politician so he isn't completely a self-made neta. He stood at an advantage when he fought his first election after his father's demise.
It's understandable if anyone dismisses Nitin Nabin as a lacklustre choice, but the story of this political development lies elsewhere.
True, Nitin Nabin is no match to Deendayal Upadhyay or L K Advani, former presidents of the Jan Sangh and BJP respectively, but the issue is not Nitin Nabin at all. He is an affable and grounded personality whose real potential or lack of it is not known yet.
The Two Gujaratis selected him to send multiple messages. One of it is a straight one. BJP veterans who are currently confidants of The Two Gujaratis haven't been selected. It means loyalty is not the only criteria to get a promotion.
There were many criteria debated like selecting a woman leader to create a new record as the BJP has never been led by a woman. Or select a leader from South Indian states where the party wants to expand.
One of the hottest debates was to have a BJP president who is not in awe of the Two Gujaratis. There were endless television debates over the RSS putting pressure on the Two Gujaratis to select someone having a strong voice and an impressive life journey in Sangh politics.
The opposite has happened.
The real story lies in what's happening inside the Sangh Parivar and what the Two Gujaratis' future plans are.
Nitin Nabin's selection is a bold political decision by the Two Gujaratis.
When Rahul Gandhi has resurrected the issue of social justice, the BJP and the Two Gujaratis are sticking to their plan and agenda. They are least influenced by Rahul Gandhi's political mission to have a caste census.
They are set to install an upper caste leader, without charisma, as the party president while winning elections on the strength of OBC support.
For the last 11 years, the Two Gujaratis have ensured that they will promote a completely new set up of people, from top to bottom, in the BJP. Most of them picked up from different castes, classes and communities.
Like the DMK the BJP does not consider the upper castes as political untouchables. At the ground zero, it conveniently uses influential upper caste leaders for 'golbandi' of ethnic voters who are under the influence of Brahmins/Rajputs/Kayasths/rich Baniyas etc. This social reality check the Congress refuses to accept at a heavy cost.
In this entire political process, the Two Gujaratis zealously protect the ground under their feet.
There are two exceptions. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and to a lesser extent Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who have set their own local narrative.
Eventually, both Yogi and Fadnavis are likely to merge their political lines with the national narrative set by the Two Gujaratis.
Rest of the BJP's new leaders, who have emerged in the Modi era, are cut from the same cloth. This new crop of young leaders don't carry any confusion about Sangh ideology, most of them are grassroot workers and have toiled for the party. Every one of them has the DNA of loyalty to the party, its Hindutva ideology and currently to the Two Gujaratis.
Some of them are able to garner votes for their party in one or two constituencies, some caste based OBC leaders control 5 lakh to 10 lakh votes, hence they have been promoted. Most of them lack charisma, they are not ambitious enough to become bigger than the party as Modi could.
They are available 24/7 for party work, they lack daring to rebel, all of them are totally in sync with Modi's development agenda and are completely in tune with Modispeak. It's important to note how the Two Gujaratis have synchronised personal and institutional agendas.
The politics in Delhi of any party is never as simple to label anything anytime conclusively. Even the Two Gujaratis label is just a political address. Even an ordinary voter is aware that Modi's writ runs in the government and in his party.
However, it's here to see how the Two Gujaratis have been successful in ensuring that the giant wheel of the party keeps running smoothly. For now and in the future.
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