The Hindu : The plot thickens

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 03, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

The plot thickens

By Inder Malhotra

Jubilation on the occasion of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance completing five years in power at the Centre is entirely understandable.

Even more understandable is the focus on Atal Behari Vajpayee's five-year stint as Prime Minister, rather than on the ruling coalition's collective survival.

For, it is primarily he who has kept the disparate dispensation, often speaking in different voices and even working at cross-purposes, together and going. Moreover, despite the visible increase in the Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani's share in power, Mr. Vajpayee remains the BJP's most acceptable face as the head of Government. Disappointment over his proclivity to be all things to all people has made no difference to this fundamental reality of current Indian politics.

Durability in a milieu in which the country has seen seven Prime Ministers come and go in 10 years — three of them during May 1996 alone — is surely something to celebrate.

But in the interest of strict objectivity it must be stated that though Mr. Vajpayee has doubtless been Prime Minister for five years, this has not been a seamless continuity. For six months, from April to October in 1999, he was caretaker Prime Minister, heading a caretaker government.

He has yet to complete a full, five-year tenure. This he would certainly do in October 2004 when the term of the present Lok Sabha ends, unless the BJP finds it necessary or expedient to advance the general election. Until then P. V. Narasimha Rao would have the distinction of being the only person outside the Nehru-Gandhi family to have been a full-term Prime Minister.

To his credit, he never crowed about this rare achievement. However, he was a Congress Prime Minister. Mr. Vajpayee's record shines in comparison with that of the Prime Ministers heading non-Congress coalition Governments. One of them lasted precisely 120 days; the longest lasting, Morarji Desai, for no more than 39 months.

Call it fate or coincidence or whatever, the festivities of the BJP and its allies have been marred somewhat by the shadow of some dark clouds falling on them.

The first was the unspeakable terrorist outrage at Nadimarg in which 24 Kashmiri Pandits were selectively slaughtered in cold blood.

This necessitated the cancellation of the celebratory dinner for the entire Council of Ministers, the largest the country has had so far.

Quick on the heels of the ghastly tragedy followed a bigger jolt to the NDA Government that was extremely hurting because it was entirely of its own making.

On the highly controversial and sensitive issue of POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act), the ruling coalition has tied itself in knots that would be difficult to disentangle. To appreciate the several ironies of the situation the story must begin from the beginning.

When a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament at last passed POTA, all the Tamil parties, big and small, had voted for it. No one had supported it more strongly than the MDMK leader, Vaiko. In July last year, however, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, arrested Mr. Vaiko under POTA and sent to him to jail where he languishes still.

The BJP leadership was greatly embarrassed by the treatment meted out to a loyal ally but chose to do nothing. For, by that time both the BJP and Ms. Jayalalithaa's AIADMK were once again coming together even though the AIADMK's bitter rival, the DMK, was already ensconced in the NDA.

A day before Mr. Vaiko's petition challenging his detention as well as POTA's validity together with a bunch of similar writ petitions was due to be heard by the Supreme Court, the newspapers splashed the Centre's counter-affidavit.

In this the Vajpayee Government had declared in the clearest terms that Mr. Vaiko's pro-LTTE speech for which POTA was used against him constituted "an act of terrorism".

Several of the BJP's Tamil allies, led by the DMK, protested vigorously at, of all places, an NDA gathering aimed at fostering a "feel good" ambience. The Government immediately retracted.

The affidavit, it announced, was a "mistake" that would be corrected immediately, and corrected it has been. New Delhi's new affidavit says categorically that Mr. Vaiko's speech "does not attract Section 21 of POTA".

And, the powers that be are pretending that some lowly functionaries had committed the "faux pas", as if senior leaders had not applied their minds to a matter of such great sensitivity.

On top of this has come another shattering blow. The Supreme Court unanimously rejected the Union Government's cynical appeal, timed for the Himachal Pradesh elections and the VHP's agitation over Ayodhya, that religious activity be allowed on the undisputed part of the land close to the disputed site where once stood the Babri Masjid.

It is nice to know from Arun Jaitley that the Government would "respect" the apex court's verdict but the VHP and the Bajrang Dal are already up in arms and threatening "direct action".

The VHP president, Ashok Singhal, apparently taking a leaf out of the book of the United States President, George W. Bush, has warned the BJP leaders, "whoever is not for Hindutva is against it". The plot thickens.

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