The name of the game in Delhi is now horse-trading. With the BJP issuing a virtual tender for willing Members of Parliament to join its fold to enable it to repeat UP at the Centre, almost all political parties have now gone into a huddle on how to resist the BJP onslaught. The open overtures by the single largest party in the Lok Sabha, though very much at variance with its much touted campaign of principled politics, has caused much disarray in all parties, especially in the Congress.
With about 140 MPs in its kitty and the absence of any charismatic or credible leader who could really hold the party together, the Congress is an easy target for MP hunters in the BJP. The resolution of the Congress Working Committee expressing grave concern at the ‘unfortunate developments’ in Uttar Pradesh, is at best a brave exercise in sabre-rattling and at the worst an indication of the deep sense of paranoia that has infected the party leadership. In the past, the CWC and the party high command did really signify a situation of strength and control. But then there were leaders of stature and charisma who were able to lead the party from the front and kept it under leash. Sitaram Kesri and his motley crowd can lay claim to neither, and hence the fear psychosis that has suddenly gripped the Congress.
The CWC resolution proudly announces its appreciation of the MPs’ committed identity and expresses confidence that they will not oblige the BJP. In the same breath it also admits that it has been pained by the BJP’s ‘mischievous campaign’ aimed at creating confusion and suspicion in the minds of Congressmen. While the proclamation of confidence sounds hollow in the light of what happened in UP, the fact that the CWC has been rattled by the alleged BJP overtures sticks out like a sore thumb.
Though expected, the timing of the leakage of the Jain panel interim report has come as a bombshell. The fragile Congress-UF ties have come under test again. Even as Kesri tried to downplay the impact of the report on his party’s relationship with UF, it now becomes difficult for the Congress to join the Cabinet even if invited. With the UF unlikely to ditch one of its architects, the DMK, which has been allegedly indicted for its support to LTTE which led to the killing of Rajiv, the Congress does not seem to have much options before it. And all the more so for the Congress MPs, whose primary concern in these uncertain times is to retain their Parliamentary seats and not their ‘committed identity’ as proclaimed by the CWC resolution.
In fact, rumours are already rife in the Capital about the possible defection of `enough’ number of members to the BJP in the eventuality of the Congress failing to join the UF government. The UP developments, sickening, no doubt as they are, have however emboldened the BJP to shed its moralistic pretences and go for it in Delhi too. Even a leader of Vajpayee’s stature, who went on record about his aversion for defections last year in Parliament’ has now announced that his party would not hesitate to repeat UP in Delhi too if the opportunity arises. His refrain that there is no plot to break the Congress rings hollow for from where else could the BJP muster the requisite strength?
The Kalyan Singh operation, though brash, has been effective and owes its acceptance, even among the conscience keepers of the BJP, to the wily ways of the double-speak duo of Kanshi and Mayawati. The twosome from the BSP have, in the last two years aligned with almost every party that is registered with the Election Commission and have not stayed with anyone for more than six months. Their penchant for double cross and their proclivity for rug pulling on the flimsiest of reasons have endeared them to none, which explains why there was not a single tear of sympathy for them when they were outwitted by Kalyan. if the BJP was able to get away with what could otherwise be described as rape of democracy, it was because of the impression even among the BJP bailers that the BSP deserved it. And with the President K.R. Narayanan nailing the issue, the BSP’s Dalit bogey went up in smoke.
Though much of the euphoria over the `success’ got diluted when the unprecedented jumbo Cabinet was announced, the BJP leadership appears to be emerging all the more wiser after the event. Any repeat performance in the Centre, though, considered inevitable, should avoid the pitfalls of the earlier operation, which many in the party justifiably feel have been a little too much of benefit to defectors. Though everyone seems to agree that defectors need to be rewarded, it is felt that any UP type largesse would defeat the very purpose of the BJP coming to power. The BJP think tank is obviously busy working on other more economical means of grabbing the Delhi gaddi. The best and the cheapest bait is, of course the prospect of a midterm poll which most MPs, irrespective of party affiliation, dread. Admittedly, most would not even get tickets from their respective parties and even so are not sure of winning for they have little to show their voters.
On the contrary, it is quite simple to get around the anti-defection law which only targets lone floor-crossers; there is no problem if members defect in droves. Perhaps, it is time to rechristen it Pro-defectors law, for instead of discouraging defections per se, it offers protection if defections are on a ‘larger scale’. Little wonder that parties who do have a sizeable number of members now think of it as a liability. Gone are the days when numbers were a strength. More the numbers more the defectors, is the general lament in Delhi now.
Notwithstanding Kesri’s bravado and the United Front’s efforts to amend the party breaking law, the BJP certainly feels undeterred and is all set to make a bid for Lok Sabha supremacy. And the party’s open tender offer appears to have interested many potential, shall we say, disciples from the secular school. We only hope the tenderers, as a gesture of decency to this tormented nation, keep their quotes a secret lest the Parliament too turns into a house of merchandise and terror, a la UP.
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