WikiLeaks Revelations and BJP

The same Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which targeted the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and demanded the prime minister's resignation, on revelations made by WikiLeaks relating to the cash-for-vote issue finds itself in a great quandary over the latest WikiLeaks revelations. While this provided great solace to the Congress, the BJP was forced to look the other way and to cut a sorry figure.

India-US Civil Nuclear Deal
In its latest expose, WikiLeaks has brought the BJP to stand trial. It can be safely assessed from the latest expose how greatly pro-United States the BJP is, which castigated the Congress and the UPA government toeing the US line. The fresh expose by WikiLeaks reveals that the BJP opposition to the India-US civil nuclear deal during 2008 was a mere ploy aimed at gaining political mileage out of the situation. According to WikiLeaks, BJP leaders had assured US officials that the BJP's opposition to the deal in public was only a political move, and the BJP was doing so to gain an upper hand over the UPA. The BJP leadership further assured the United States that should it come to power, it would do no harm to the India-US nuclear deal.

According to the expose, a member of the BJP executive committee and a prominent RSS leader Sheshadari, had told a US official in 2005 that the United States should not attempt to read between the lines to draw conclusion from the party's political resolution on foreign affairs. It is pertinent to note that the BJP in its above-cited resolution had accused the former UPA government of succumbing to US pressure, and following US dictates. While clarifying the BJP stand, Sheshadri told the US official that whatever was said in that resolution was merely to gain political mileage.

Deriving Political Mileage
One wonders that if the BJP was opposing the nuclear deal just for the sake of opposition, and to derive political mileage, was the BJP not misleading the country? True that after the Left withdrew support from the UPA on the issue of the nuclear deal with the United States, speculations on midterm election were rife, and the BJP was desirous of utilizing the opportunity to return to power at the central level. This attempt was clearly aimed at creating instability in the country, and forcing the nation to bear the huge expenditure of midterm election unnecessarily. At the same time, the BJP and the Sangh Parivar (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its allies) continued to assure the United States clandestinely of their loyalty to the United States and support to the nuclear deal.

WikiLeaks has further revealed in the same vein that during 2009, the in charge of the US Embassy Peter Burleigh, after his meeting with L.K. Advani, informed Washington that the BJP leadership did not intend to pay greater attention to opposition to the nuclear deal yet again. The situation, emerging later, stands witness that though the BJP did not change its stance (of opposing the deal) in public, yet it never opposed it either.

This makes it clear that the same BJP, which goes all out against the UPA by accusing the government of being pro-United States, does not leg behind in US worship. The situation is a great solace for both the Congress and the UPA that it got an opportunity to beat the BJP with the same stick with which the BJP was beating it. It is, perhaps, because of it that the party (Congress) said, while reacting to the fresh expose, that it was the BJP's turn to be targeted. Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari sarcastically said that the BJP had taken the WikiLeaks expose as holy political scriptures, but the Congress attached no more importance to it than being mere speculation.

Matter of Grave Concern
It is, however, of no importance who won or who lost on this particular issue. The basic issue, however, is the WikiLeaks revelations, despite having several loopholes and contradictions. Some of the expose, despite having the possibility of being incorrect, is not entirely untrue.

If even an iota of the expose is based on fact or truth, it goes to prove that the BJP that cheated people on the nuclear deal, or the Congress may oppose each other, but both of them stand on the same plank in the matter of worshipping the United States. This kind of a situation is a matter of grave concern for the entire country indeed.