Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have increasingly started resembling the Bourbons of yore: they have learnt nothing and they have forgotten nothing.

Instead of doing some serious analysis of the political and economic situation prevailing in the country and the world, the principal Opposition party chose to celebrate the silver jubilee event with clichéd speeches and useless sloganeering. The same old mantras were chanted—United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi is “super Prime Minister,” she is of foreign origin, Manmohan Singh is the “weakest-ever Prime Minister,” dynastic politics of the Congress is a threat to democracy, etc. On the eve of the silver jubilee celebrations, BJP president LK Advani also remembered Lord Ram and the temple. The party has also started talking about the demographic invasion by the Bangladeshis. This has evoked sneer from political commentators: what did you do for the temple while you were in power? What did you do to stop the flood of illegal Bangladeshis.

We have criticized the UPA government for so many wrong decisions it has made. So did the BJP, but it could not capitalize on any of them. It has made a great deal a lot of noises in the last 10 months about the extra-constitutional authority, the tainted ministers, the insult to Veer Savarkar, the rising prices, and so on; but none of them seem to have benefited the party in political terms. It lost the Maharashtra elections, despite the abysmal performance of the incumbent Congress-led government in the state. It could not win the Bihar polls, despite remarkable disarray in the ranks of the anti-BJP forces. It has been wiped out in Haryana. Somehow, it managed to retain Jharkhand, after considerable drama and a huge concession to the independants.

It seems that the unexpected defeat in the general elections last year has completely frozen strategic thinking in the BJP. The initial shock gave way to wishful thinking, which was as stupid as it was superstitious. Some astrologer predicted that the UPA government would fall in September. This thrilled the party, though the thrill proved to be short-lived. And the result was total confusion. BJP leaders try to keep the RSS in good humor, and talk about the Ram temple and Bangladeshi infiltrators. The next day, they try to appease the Muslims by echoing “secular” parties.

So great have been their confusion and frustration that the party has lost all sense of proportion and propriety. In a most petty and perfidious fashion, it refused to support the UPA government on the issue of the patents legislation. The legislation was the means to fulfill the nation’s commitment to the World Trade Organization. It was the legislation that was in tune with similar amendments the BJP had brought out earlier and which were supported by the Congress at that time. What the UPA was doing by way of the legislation was not the fulfillment of its own commitment but that of the nation’s. But the BJP refused to see reason. Ironically, it was the Left parties that supported the government on patents.

Similarly, on the issue of value-added tax (VAT), the BJP has been most irresponsible and immature. When it was in power, its ministers ardently argued and worked for the implementation of VAT. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as Prime Minister, spoke in favor of VAT. So did the manifesto of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. But, again for petty reasons, the BJP chose to oppose VAT.

The only way the BJP can hope to come back to power is by espousing Rightwing ideology. That is, it should promote free market, small government, rule of law, open society, a tough stance against Islamic terror, and a foreign policy in alliance with the United States. Presently, the BJP is doing none of these things. And this explains the party’s growing irrelevance and exasperation.