An Open Letter To BJP From A Thankful But Angry Supporter

Dear team BJP,

Vanakkam.

In all probabilities you may not know me. I am one of those million Indians who vote for you since I gained the eligibility to vote. Today I am compelled to write this letter to you.

The reason may look strange.

I was listening to Shri Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, speaking in the parliament. Animated yet vacuous he spoke as incoherently as ever. Yet the speech shocked me when he dragged in National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval's name in his address. Clearly the NSA is emerging as a silent target of the resuscitated Congress.

But that speech was not the reason I am writing this letter.

By a strange coincidence, I was going through the old magazines collections of mine. The magazines were dog-eared and worn. But the cover stories struck me and I had to write this to you. Those magazine covers were a regular feature during the UPA rule between 2004 and 2014.

They were covers of bomb blasts. They were from everywhere in India. Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Many Indians died - blasted out of existence.

Today such terrorism is mostly crushed and contained only to Kashmir. There too the terrorists engage with armed forces who make sure that the terrorists meet their maker.

This has created such a comfort zone for us that we have forgotten what it was to live as an ordinary Indian in the UPA regime.

There was no guarantee that you would return home travelling in metro or electric train. The loving father who kissed his daughter good bye and promised to bring her favourite chocolate would be brought back in a sack and worse would only be a number and his body would be just part and parcel of the dust and garbage of the city.

The body of the daughter who went cheerfully to buy a birthday gift for her mother would be carried in the hands of the father. 'Impotent India' a cover, told the agony of every Indian who lost his or her family member. It spoke of the shame of a nation that denied justice to the victims of a terror that has vowed to destroy Indian civilization.

It was in these years that we were told by a senior Congressman that the former UPA chairperson would cry for the terrorists killed in the Batla House Encounter.

Going through the magazines brought me deep pain and the pain turned into a mixed feeling of gratitude and anger towards you, BJP.

And hence this letter.

With you in power, the terror has been largely contained. You must have created a mechanism; the terror did not stop on its own. I am sure there are people working day and night, whose family lives have been disrupted, sleep lost, and health affected due to the immense work pressure. It is because of these faceless men and women and their toil that we live in a society free from the fear of bombs in our metros and towns.

Thanking you for that is not enough. And that is why I am angry at you.

You do not have the luxury of defeat. You do not have the luxury of compromise on values of propriety in public life. You do not have the luxury of inefficient governance and you do not have the luxury of living in the cocoon of comfort zone.

The voter does not see the complete picture. He or she does not have to. But you as a political party standing for the civilizational heart of India, should see it. Your failure in any one of the above will undo the protective shield that has been provided to us in our daily life, which over the past ten years we have taken for granted.

The Leader of the Opposition, after repeating for months that 'India is not a nation', is now dragging in the name of the National Security Advisor in political debates.

If we look at the way you behave, dear BJP, you seem to have forgotten the whole picture: you are not merely a political party aiming for power. You are the last line of defence against an assault on the civilisation.

So please get your acts together. Provide India a strong and responsive leadership. The war in on. This is not just a political battle. This is a battle against the monopolistic expansionism that threatens the theo-diversity of this nation.

Dear BJP, whether you are a worker, state level, district level party president, Chief Ministers and Prime Minister, whoever you are just look at these covers of the magazines. You have stopped this from happening. Today probably my family members and I are not victims of a bomb blast because of you. I am thankful to you for that. As a voter for the BJP, I do not ask you to free the temples from the State or change the syllabus in the Government curriculum. Let the society and historians do it. Let temple worshippers and parents demand it. All I ask is - win.

You cannot afford to lose even a municipal election. Win not by any means but win righteously.

Yours sincerely,

A thankful and angry BJP voter.