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Pavs:Hi Sagarika, What is effecting BJP more? internal squabbles or lack of new leadership responsible leadership in the pipeline?? One question i am curious about is What is affecting BJP more in Urban areas? Is it the growing Urban poor or is the middle class really moving away from their darling party?? How could BJP, of all places lose in Jaipur and decrease its margin so much in Indore?? I feel Party should take a new Right-Of-Center stage in Indian politics and shed some of its hardline image. But is the party willing to do it? Uniform Civil Code and Article 370 are good, but Mandir can't be an issue anymore I guess. Thank you

: those are good suggestions..

Bharat Rane:Ms. Sagrika don’t you think Congres and BJP both are good parties in their place. But BJP is always stayed away from the development and progress. If BJP want to come back they should forget Dharma and stay with Karma. Don’t you think, BJP should keep in mind that ‘Karma is greater than the Dharma’? If BJP believes in Karma that his future is very bright and shine, if not god bless BJP. They should forget RAM and walk on path of Swami Vivekanand.

: good one. I definitely think the bjp should give up on ram and all the mythological stuff. you know the question can be asked how much has the bjp done to popularise or encourage genuine Hinduism? how much has it done for sanksrit, ayurveda, cleaning of temples or restoring heritage? when it was in power it held only pravasi bharatiya divas sammelans. why did it not hold any gala celebration of india's culture and traditions given that it is supposed to be a party of bhatartiya sanskriti?

Santosh:Hi Sagarika, I am Santosh from Mangalore. First of all congrtaulations to Rajdeep and team for predicting election 2009 results with accurate precision.You guys rock!!!. Secondly, i am a huge fan of yours i admire you not only as a journalist but also as a writer. I have read your Gin Drinkers. While its all smiles for the congress and gandhi parivar, where do you see the BJP heading? Given the party's communal and hindutva agenda the people of this nation will make sure they sit in the opposition.And i am sure slowly the change will appear in my state of karnataka too. So as the BJP is in some serious soul searching business do you believe there will be drastic shift in the ideology of the party? Also, i see a clear dearth of fresh young blood in BJP unlike the congress where the Rahul factor has reaped millions of votes for the INC.One can clearly see a marked difference between the leadership of congress and BJP. So at the moment it seems like a lot of work left for the BJP. Can you please give your sights on how the party could proove its resilience?

: Thanks a lot for this! Yes I think the BJp has a lot of hard work ahead. It achieved national prominence because of the ram janmabhoomi movement and the so called "hindu anger" at the time. but this is a new century an voters are looking for a positive message. ragul gandhi is a great asset for the congress. pity the bjp only has varun gandhi! the kind of language he has used would never be used by a vajpayee or an advani.

Rajesh Kumar Tripathy:Who do you think should be BJP's PM Candidate for the year 2014?

: difficult to say..arun jaitley i think is the middle class hero of the bjp, but i doubt whether he will have much support within his own party. maybe a sushma swaraj, but i really can't say..

Hiren :Hi DID you vote?

: of course!

Azeem:Hi Sagarika, if Narendra Modi apologises for Gujarat 2002, do you think this will help BJP to shed its anti-minority image.

: Not sure. But I think narendra modi should give some sort of apology or show some amount of remorse for what has happened. think that would be impossible though given the effect it would have on the sangh cadres. just look at what a remark on jinnah's secularism did to advani--he had to step down.

Ashish Hemke:Can BJP regain its strength in Hindi speaking belt? and by doing what?

: the hindi belt is not a monolith, different states are different. in UP and Rajasthan it is definitely a crisis of leadership, in UP it is the anti-minority stance, in Bihar it seems difficult for the BJp to rise on its own given the enromous popularity of nitish kumar. i still think raman singh and shivraj singh chauhan are the best examples of bjp leadership--thats the kind of low key leader the bjp should look for.

anand:hello sagarika, even after having such a great manifesto, why people rejected BJP in this election?

: It was a good bold manifesto but i think the campaign was far too negative. emphasising too many wrong issues and failing to distance from rahul gandhi i feel was a big mistake. also attacking manmohan singh day after day, when almost the entire country sees him as a good and decent man, did not go down well with the public. i don't think any Hindu likes foul language and impolite behaviour

Mahesh Bhatt:Do you think by bringing in Sushma Swaraj as Opposition Leader and Arun Jeytly as Party President will help the party to consolidate in regions where it has roots?

: good one. sushma swaraj versus rahul gandhi in 2014 could still be a contest and arun jaitley has a lot of support from the urban middle class. but this time the congress vote share has gone up considerably in the urban areas and the vote is climbing--so maybe a lot of people who say they support the bjp and argue from the bjp viewpoint, actually vote for the congress!

Mahesh:What is the future of BJP? BJP is the party who raised from 2 to 180 and may be down this time and are still becoming stronger. So BJP is the future of India

: difficult to see the bjp being the future of india for the moment..for the moment it looks as if the party is floundering. don't think the future likes in negative slogans.

Kris:Hello, As you have said, the people had voted against to Communal parties like BJP, then, why did Left parties defeated in the elections? I believe, people had voted to stable Govt this time and they saw Cong is the alternative to Third front in many areas. BJP won good No of seats from its ruled states and BJP will be back again. What do you think?

: That is the argument that is being made by many--that the fear of the third front worked to the benefit of the congress. but we need to ask the question, why did voters not think of the bjp as a stable alternative? why did they not trust advani as they trusted manmohan singh? the bjp's performance has been terrible. in madhya pradesh it has lost 9, it has been wiped out in uttarakhand--its bastions. In karnataka it has only gained 1. its big success was jharkhand where it won 8. and with bjp at 159 and congress at 261 the percentage of difference is huge.

I love India:Sagarika will there be any impact of Narendram Modi in for future BJP politics specailly for 2014 elections? also, why BJP dint projected Narendra Modi as PM candidate for 2009 Polls if Yes had been different verdict, what we undserstand from the Media he is non corrupt and work minded, any human being in this world would look for good leaders. Please give your honest feedback..!

: Narendra Modi has not been a great success in these polls. in Gujaratthe BJP has gained only one seat and many of the candidates chosen by modi have lost. Modi's own dominant personality within the bjp has also alienated many within the bjp itself and they put up rebels against him. Modi has no doubt created enormous development in Gujarat, unfortunately 2002 still haunts him and clings to his image.

JPT:Do you think BJP can revive its position in UP considering the multipolar polity?

: the bjp has got 10 seats in UP the same as it did in 2004. actually in multipolar contests, a lower vote percentage bring you more seats--this worked to the benefit of the congress. the bjp needs a good local leader in UP--the departure of kalyan singh has hit it hard

Naima Krishnan:The Congress' relationship with its pre and post poll allies will help the BJP redefine its allies policy, won't it?

: good one. if the congress returns to being the big boss congress of the 80s there will be a way to reach out to those allies. but its a tough call. no ally now wants to be with a party that will drive away the minority vote and the bjp does not have a larger-than-life consensual figure like Vajpayee. also the bjp has to stop thinking of only negative campaigns--it should have a positive agenda

Naima Krishnan:Two months from now, the BJP will not look politically as unviable as it does now. What then will be the one issue that can rally the party together?

: Not sure what that issue can be. If this government performs really well then there will be little to attack it on. They can try the anti-dynasty line, but with sonia renouncing the pm's post and rahul renouncing a cabinet berth, it seems that this generation of the gandhi family is not anxious to be in power--they have a gentler touch. Also, the BJP will find it hard to attack a person of proven integrity and talent like manmohan singh.

Phani:Hi Sagarika,Do you think hindutva Agenda caused the damage to BJP?

: Yes no doubt. The varun gandhi episode should have been much better handled. Sometimes the bjp said they "disassociate" from varun gandhi, sometimes they said they "support" him, then they said the tapes were doctored, none of it was convincing. Think the BJP has to stay away from Hindutva and emphasise Hinduism--there's a big difference between the two.

bhanu113:Do you really believe that post advani / atal era BJP is lacking a leader who can bind the arty together or do see someone in that role from the current leadership to fulfill it...

: As you know Advani was reportedly asked to stay on as leader of the opposition even after he had offered to resign, precisely because of the bitter factional quarrels between leaders. The BJP's golden age was the Atal Bihari Vajpayee era--without another Vajpayee like leader, difficult to see how it can come out of its leadership crisis

dwarakanath:Sagarika, do u think BJP can come back again to power? can the party regain its strength?

: The BJp has will hold an atma chintan meeting soon to decide which way to go. I thik the bjp needs to follow shivraj singh chouhan's advice that the only meaning of hindutva is vikaas. By emphasising development above all, and giving new perspectives on development other than those of the congress, the bjp can regain strength. for the moment it does not look as if the BJP can come back to power in a hurry.

rk:What should BJP do immediately to improve their votebank

: The indian electorate is young, aspiring and anxious for a modern outlook. The BJP must try and reach out to the new kind of Indian society that exists. in this campaign, think the bjp would have done much better had it dropped varun gandhi as a candidate.

Pankaj Giri:Hello Sagarika... Do u think the long cherished dream of being PM for Mr. Advani finally over ?

: Absolutely. Think this election was Advani's last stand. by the time the next election comes around, he will be 89..and perhaps up against rahul gandhi.

Rajendra Shenoy:Eversince Independence many obituaries have been written for BJP. The party was written off during Nehru reign, in 1984, and even in 1996 after the 13 day government. The party, though destined to live in margins of Indian politics, is not destined to die. What is your take on this?

: The BJP has to think about itself carefully. This election it seemed confused about what issue to emphasise. First 1984, then Bofors, then black money, then attacking Manmohan singh. Don't think the BJP quite knew which issue to take up or how to find a "anti-Congress" platform. The politicians still talk of "pseudo secularism" and "minority appeasement" but these increasingly sound like euphemism for nothing but religious hatred. Unless the bjp discovers a new identity it will be on the margins--which is sad, because every democracy needs a strong opposition.

arvind singh dotiyal:what is your best suggestion to BJP for future?

: The BJP has to shed its anti-minority image. So far all its utterances come down to either attacking muslims or attacking christians. This is simply not acceptable in a modern nation stepping into the 21st century based on the platform of equal rights. There are many positive parts of the BJP's campaign, for example its opposition to family raj of congress, its backing of economic reform in the NDA years and its pragmatic foreign policy. I believe the BJP to succeeed must become a right wing party that emphasises everything that right wing parties across the world emphasise--like business, conservative social values, etc. But it has to carefully think through its identity and not let it degenarate into violent crude religious hatred.

pavan:Hi Sagarika, don't you think the thing that is effecting BJP most is its Geographical limitation.??

: Good question. It is very difficult for the BJP to grow--thats why it needs allies and coalition dharma--a lesson vajpayee grasped as early as 1998. but to get allies it needs to have an identity that will be acceptable to its coalition partners

Venugopal.V:Hi Sagarika, I saw in one of the previous chat sessions, you yourself had said that Uniform Civil Code is required. Now if the BJP mentions it in its manifesto, then why do people call BJP communal?

: Thats a good question. Yes I do think a Uniform Civil Code is a positive step in the right direction asI feel Muslim personal law is terribly unjust to women. The point is by attacking churches in karnataka and christians in orissa, by the Varun gandhi brand of political speeches, the BJP is only ending up destroying itself and making all its demands seem illegitimate

prashant:BJP is probably suffering from RSS meddling. RSS has support in Middle class and their poulation is small. BJP wll have to reach lower strata like congress and then only fight will be possible. Rural people only know one party i.e. congress. Your opinion on this please

: The relationship with the RSS goes to the heart of the BJP's identity crisis. Is it the political front of the sangh? Or is it a modern party with a modern pluralistic outlook. The BJP is dependent on the RSS, because the RSS provides the cadres at voting time. and often BJP chief ministers wwho fall foul of the RSS, like Khanduri in Uttarakhand, suffer because of the bad relationship with the RSS. Mohan Bhagwat the new sarsanghchalak is a relatively younger leader--hopefully he can help re-shape the BJP

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