Can BJP really capitalise on the corruption charges against the UPA Government??

For the last six months the entire country has been gripped by the saga of one corruption scandal after the other hitting the UPA government.

But, excuse me, what did I just write: "the entire country"? Really, is it the entire country or just the so called intelligentsia. Is the ordinary citizen living in the villages or in the slums of any big city really bothered about these multi billion scams? Therein lies the real dilemma for the main opposition party - the BJP.

For the common man living in villages and rural India, corruption is a way of life. From getting a identity card, to filing a complaint, to getting rations, to getting the wages under NREGA, everywhere palms have to be greased before anything can be accomplished. For him/her the government machinery signifies corruption. The so called "Aam Aadmi" is too busy trying to eke out a respectable living where he can get proper food for the family, a shelter over his head and clothes to cover himself and his dear ones - in short "ROTI, KAPDA aur MAKAN".

BJP which was the least expected to lose the 2004 elections under Vajpayee, lost the plot because of this very disconnect with the aspirations of the common man. It is not that the Vajpayee government was a failure, in fact it had many path-breaking accomplishments to its credit - the creation of Road infrastructure through NHAI was one of them. Today we have more and more parts of the country becoming connected to one another which hopefully should lead to more prosperity for urban India. Unprecedented price rise was never a phenomenon of the Vajpayee led BJP government.

However the BJP was never able to reach out to the masses of the country with its accomplishments. Today also, when the entire media is talking about how the UPA government has been in limbo and how BJP has been scoring brownie points again and again, one is not very sure if BJP has learnt its lessons.

True we have one of the most lame duck PM's in the history of the country leading one of the most corrupt set of politicians, but has the BJP been able to send a message to the masses that it can provide them with a better alternative?

The BJP was and still is perceived to be a party of the classes. Sadly, the BJP leadership which should be conversant with this fact, has been ignoring this. The reason is not clear. Unless the BJP puts its act together and starts connecting to the masses it would be very hard for them to gain any advantage.

In fact there are so many issues which affect the masses directly and can be addressed by BJP - like price rise, unemployment, poor irrigation facilities, lack of education etc. that not to connect with the masses will be suicidal and can actually lead to annihilation of the Party.