Amid all this it appeared somewhat strange that the party's topmost leader Lal Krishna Advani kept for long an enigmatic silence. Has he given up the game after the poll disaster? Has he given up hopes on his prime ministerial aspirations? He may have to wait till 2014 to see if he could make it to 7 Race Course Road after all. He would be past 85; but health is on his side though not age. He is much fitter than many far younger in the rough and tumble of politics. Advani can take comfort from the fact that Morarji Deasi was past 80 when he became prime minister in 1977.

Of course, the issue facing BJP is not whether Advani could ever become PM, but whether the party could come out of the shock of two successive defeats and pose a challenge to the Congress as the only alternative and play its role as the principal opposition in the coming years before it faces the 2014 elections. There is a post- mortem of sorts now on. BJP President Rajnath Singh has sought to explain away the current crisis in the party rather perfunctorily. No doubt, he has admitted to his responsibility, though qualified, as the head of the party. "Success is a collective credit and failure is a collective responsibility. Yes, if anyone feels that any person should take the responsibility, then as the President of the party, I am willing to take this responsibility." 

The party may have begun the process of reviewing the poll outcome. It will be sending teams to travel across the country in an attempt to understand the reasons for the party's poor performance. The process will culminate in a 'Chintan Baithak' (brainstorming session) in August, during which an action plan would be drawn for the party's revival. Advani himself will undertake a national yatra. This remains his only major announcement since the results were out in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. There is also a tentative debate over the electoral advantage of pursuing "Hindutva", the philosophy that was arguably the single most significant factor responsible for BJP's emergence as a major political force since 1989 when it won enough seats in the Lok Sabha to act as the major prop to keep the VP Singh headed National Front government in power, albeit for a brief period. Questions are also being raised if BJP should continue its relationship with RSS in a way that puts the party in a position of seeking approval for every action. Again the BJP chief has declared rather dramatically that .Hindutva is to BJP what Constitution is to the politics of the country. He has also rejected suggestions for cutting the party's umbilical cord with the RSS. He has termed ideology as "a constant and perpetual guiding force" that does not change over electoral performance. Finally, Singh has asserted that party has not swerved from the core issues of Hindutva and its commitment continues to remain for building a Ram temple at Ayodhya, abrogation of Article 370 and implementation of Uniform Civil Code.

All this makes it clear that BJP is not going to give up Hindutva in a hurry. However, it must realize that for its own electoral health BJP should modify Hindutva in such a way that explicitly makes it an inclusive philosophy. The esoteric explanation that Hindutva stands for cultural nationalism will not cut ice with the minorities, especially the Muslims who are justifiably jealous to preserve their culture and way of life, having contributed to India's tradition and values for centuries as an integral part of the country's multi-cultural society.

It is not to argue that Hindutva means swamping of all other cultures that make up India what it is today. But the sad fact is that the BJP leadership has not been able to assure, not just the minorities, but also the majority of the Indian population that it is not so. Whether it will do so at least now remains a challenge for its leadership, especially Advani himself, arguably the greatest proponent of Hindutva.

voted for (me) because benefits of development reached every section of society." Therefore, said Chouhan, "Muslims must not go off the party's radar". Party general secretary Gopinath Munde whose aide Pasha Patel is a leading advocate of the Sachar Committee recommendations in Maharashtra said that "the party must reach out to Muslims even if they don't vote for it". Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi too has supported this view. 

The meeting also provided proof of BJP's anxiety to assure Muslims that it does not agree with the 'Pilibhit' version of Hindutva, an unmistakable allusion to Varun Gandhi's hate speech. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi did not take kindly to those who defended Varun Gandhi and those who felt that the BJP did not want Muslim or Christian votes. He and some others boldly expressed the view that a political party should reach out to all, and the BJP should never forget that 'Pilibhit' led to a strong consolidation of Muslim vote against it. Significantly, after Rajnath Singh's description of the BJP as a "right-wing entity", both Advani and the party's political resolution reiterated that BJP remained a "nationalist organisation". The resolution said: "Theocracy or any form of bigotry is alien to our ethos. Hindutva is a profound concept which is the real inspiration for a resurgent India with which the BJP is proud to be associated¿. We need to draw inspiration from our profound civilisational, cultural and spiritual heritage, address the issues of the present with transparent commitment and good governance, and lay the foundation of a very strong and resurgent future." It also speaks of "giving equal treatment to all regardless of their personal faith is integral to Hindutva".

The BJP's poll debacle may be personally disappointing for Advani's prime ministerial aspirations and frustrating for the party cadre. However, the positive side with which the country should be happy is that it has made the BJP look at the danger of Hindutva being presented as a distorted concept while in fact it should be an all- inclusive philosophy. If the party acts by what it has said at its national executive meeting, it will be doing a great deal to uphold the ethos of the great Indian civilization. In a limited context, it will also augur well for the future of a highly desirable bipolar polity