Opinion - News Analysis

Governing India from Delhi will be tougher for Vajpayee

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, FEB. 24. Before this round of elections, the NDA Government's critics used to refer it as the throwback to the Ahmed Shah Rangeela reign. The reference was to the senior Ministers' penchant for hosting second-rate film-shows as modern day versions of the cultural entertainment that the ruling elite of the decaying Mughal empire provided for itself.

After this elections, the Vajpayee regime can be said to be resembling the Bahadur Shah Zafar era, when the Mughal emperor's writ was confined only to the Red Fort, with the rest of the country ruled either by the provincial rulers or the East India Company. The king was no doubt respected but was certainly not feared. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, finds himself in a position not vastly different than the emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, even though the constitutional provisions ensure continuation of his Government.

At the end of today's counting, the BJP finds itself confined to ruling only in two big States _ Gujarat, Jharkhand _ and in the two mini-States _ Himachal Pradesh and Goa _ while its ally, Indian National Lok Dal, rules in Haryana and the Biju Janata Dal in Orissa; its putative ally, National Conference, technically presides over Srinagar, but its support for the ruling arrangement in Delhi is opportunistic. Outside the NDA, only the Telugu Desam can be said to be unaffected _ and unconcerned _ with the rebuff the voters have handed down to the BJP and its allies. The all-too-certain return of the AIADMK chief, Jayalalithaa, as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister brings no comfort to the NDA Government. Nor can the victory notched up by Narendra Modi in Gujarat distract from the BJP defeats in two other constituencies.

Three weeks before the electorate's rejection of the BJP in the four States, Mr. Vajpayee had percipiently taken the precaution of entering the caveat that the poll was not a referendum on his Government. Technically, Mr. Vajpayee is right. And, then, the anti-incumbency argument is not without some merit.

However, given the extensive campaigning undertaken by Mr. Vajpayee, the Prime Minister's moral authority decidedly stands diminished. Both he and the Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, went out of their way to impress upon the electorate their campaign against terrorism and the tough stand against Pakistan; the voters were obviously not impressed. The too-clever-by-half attempt to introduce an anti-minority voice was seen through _ and rejected _ by the electorate. Though Mr. Advani or Mr. Vajpayee can still trot out the Gulam Nabi Azad kind of logic that had he not pressed on with the national security/terrorism/Pakistan themes, the BJP could end up performing much worse in Uttar Pradesh.

The electorate's rebuff for the BJP and its allies has come on the eve of the budget session, and it is obvious that the Government would find it difficult to push ahead with ``tough'' economic decisions. The proposed ``labour reforms'' are not likely to take off and its is doubtful if there will still be the requisite ``political will'' to do any further disinvestment in public sector.

Governing India from New Delhi will be tougher from today onwards. The Prime Minister will have to make another sincere effort to work out a national consensus if he is still interested in governing effectively for the remaining two-and-a- half years of his term. In particular, Mr. Vajpayee would have to stand up to the VHP and other Sangh Parivar hot-heads, who are bravely talking of ``sacrificing'' the Central Government in pursuit of their `Mandir' agenda. Mr. Vajpayee's moral stature stands diminished, and it is up to him now to salvage some of his ``iqbaal''.

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Stories in this Section

• Incremental militarism
• New concerns of trust and truce
• After the polls
• Geography & regional growth — I
• Budget and regional diplomacy
• Governing India from Delhi will be tougher for Vajpayee
• Exporters may get some relief
• Focus now on development
• No politicking
• Rebuke is mild
• `Sectarian musings'
• Not unsecular
• In letter and spirit
• Question anarchy
• An earnest appeal

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