While the "liberal face" of the Bhartiya Janata Party
in the coalition government at centre has the endorsement of Sangh Parivar may be a
debatable issue, Mr. A.B.Vajpayee, the Prime Minister is seemingly determined to honour
the aspirations of the electorate who conveyed a simple and clear message that their
preference was not for any political ideology but for a good governance for five years
under leadership. Since, the core theme of electioneering in 1999 Lok-Sabha election by
the Sangh Parivar, as well as by the constituents of National Democratic Alliance centered
round the three issues namely good governance, able leadership and stability, any attempt
to destabilise the coalition government led by Mr. Vajpayee might be construed as an
attempt to negate the endorsement of the people’s verdict.
The argument of the BJP’s adversaries that it did not make
any numerical gains in this poll might have put the Sangh Parivar on the defensive, but
since the loss in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka was compensated by its gains in other areas,
they have no reason but to be satisfied with the stretched canvas of the party. Therefore,
the main stress of the party now should be to ensure that the government fulfills the
aspirations of the electorate.
If the current political situation in the country is analysed, it
appears that the main challenge before Mr. Vajpayee is to "develop the right concept
of good governance to suit the Indian context " as said by Mr. Krishna Kant, the
Vice-President of the country while inaugurating a conference on "Governance,"
organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce( FICCI ) and Industry. But if
the UNDP report rating India as one of the least well-governed countries is a reality, it
is then a major challenge for Vajpayee Government. In the background of the investors all
over the world closely monitoring the performance and credibility of his government, the
consensus approach of Mr. Vajpayee for making all the parties responsive towards the
urgent needs of the country, particularly its economic and security challenges is a
welcome and encouraging initiative on his part. Knowing fully well that a number of his
colleagues in Sangh Parivar are not comfortable with him on issues which do not fit in the
ideological mould of the BJP, the Prime Minister as head of the 24-party
coalition government made his determination clear in the first meeting of the National
Democratic Alliance declaring, "we will have to perform now". He is aware that
his pragmatic approach in projecting the "liberal face" of the BJP is under
close scrutiny of the puritans in Sangh family but his determination to shift the main
focus from his party’s ideological commitment to good governance has the endorsement
of the people.
The present team of Mr.Vajpayee may not have the mercurial
characters who posed continuous threat to his previous government, but the task to deal
with the problem within his own party appears to be more difficult than tackling his
coalition partners. Since, the power-oriented political culture has considerably affected
the BJP, its restive leaders do not appear to be in a mood to behave like members of a
party "with difference". Besides, a section of leaders known to be rigid towards
the political ideology of the party having no part in governing does not realise the
compulsion of a coalition government and they are found speaking in different voices on
certain sensitive issues which create embarrassment to the Prime Minister.
Despite the endorsement of the RSS, to the coalition government
which requires a pragmatic and consensual approach, its mouth peace Organiser in its issue
dated September 26 ‘1999 published a satirical article entitled - "Rama Swears
by Secularism" and ridiculed the BJP leadership on the issue of Ayodhya. Even before,
the final phase of the Lok-Sabha poll was concluded, the Sangh leadership pulled up the
BJP leaders on this sensitive issue through this article. Mr.Vajpayee as a seasoned leader
has been distancing himself from this issue since the demolition of the "Babri
Mosque", but the approach of many of his colleagues in Sangh Parivar often placed him
in an embarrassing position as a Prime Minister. The article in Organiser in a narrative
conversation between Lord Rama and Narada Muni maintained that Rama was projected by the
BJP as a national figure rather than a representative of a religion. Besides, Rama also
proved himself democratic by heeding a washer man’s criticism and exiled his queen .
Hence, how a national as well as a democratic Rama could be a contentious figure for the
National Democratic Alliance. On this Narada Muni replied, "true, this party (Hindu
party meaning the BJP) did project you as a National Hero and even as a civilisational
symbol, but what you do not seem to either appreciate or understand is that a party in the
opposition and a party in power are two different parties even if it is the same party,
and so it is quite natural for such a party to contradict itself -in fact not only natural
but politically proper". Thus we see, that some of his party colleagues are trying to
create an embarrassing situation for their own leader who is heading a coalition
government.
If the recent gamble of Kalyan Singh, the deposed Chief Minister
of Uttar Pradesh to rake up Ayodhya issue in the context of the satirical article in
Organiser was another attempt to embarrass the Prime Minister, then it is definitely an
issue on which the party cadres need to be tamed. Ayodhya was not an important issue in
1998, but the BJP could win 57 seats in UP and therefore, the contention of Kalyan Singh
that the BJP’s debacle in 1999 Lok Sabha Poll in UP was a fall out of its
indifference towards Ayodhya has hardly any merit.
A section of the BJP particularly those belonging to Other
Backward Castes (OBC) categories may support Kalyan Singh on this issue for their own
vested interest. This may also encourage the puritans in Sangh Parivar to make Vajpayee
uncomfortable. This chunk of the BJP leaders is known to be in the same wave length with
their counter parts in other political parties in the name of "Social
justice" and are therefore the potential trouble makers for Mr.Vajpayee.
Reservation in Government job extended to the Jat Community of
Rajasthan and recent inclusion of more OBCs’ in the mandal list have again stirred up
a hornet’s nest as Mulayam Singh Yadav of Samajwadi Party and Mayavathi of Bahujan
Samaj Party have already started mobilising the people for increase in reservation quota
from the existing 49% to a percentage commensurate with the population of Dalits and the
OBCs.
The lumpen elements in politics are now encouraged to revive the
mandal issue and abuse the system for their domination in governance at all levels. The
country has already paid a heavy price for this political strategy of reservation which
has divided the people to an irreparable extent. There is need for a national debate on
the issue. In the absence of such a debate, it creates an impression that the spirit
of Indian Constitution on the issue of reservation has no concern or relevance to our
political parties.
A.B.Vajpayee while addressing the members of the National
Executive Committee of the BJP (New Delhi November 4’ 1999) pointed out that
"the people aspiring for basic facilities like clean drinking water, employment, and
access to education and health facilities were getting impatient". But, his
commitment for good governance which is the need of the hour requires result-oriented
performance. Leader with peoples support-" VAJPAYEE TUM SANGHARSH KARO , HAM TUMHARE
SAATH HAIN" may be capable in crossing the hurdles but his spirit of "CHARAI
VETI - CHARAI VETI" (GO AHEAD - GO AHEAD) derived from ancient Indian scripture
requires constant tuning to cut the ideological ropes of elements detrimental to the
interest of the nation
