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Practice makes a man perfect. If this is true, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee should be in an ideal state to tackle the latest threat of withdrawal of support from the Shiromani Akali Dal on the Uttaranchal issue.
His government has been living under perpetual threat from one or the other of the BJP's allies from day one. However, unlike similar occasions in the past when AIADMK chief Jayalalitha's threat of withdrawal of support could be dismissed as politics of blackmail, this time things appear a bit different. And the BJP has no one else but itself to blame for this. While rushing through measures to create Uttaranchal, Vanan-chal and Chattisgarh states, the Vajpayee government not only failed to apply its mind to the wider ramifications of the move but also did not try to evolve a consensus among its own coalition partners on such sensitive issues. That the Centre's draft Bill on Uttaranchal was subjected to 26 major amendments by the State Assembly in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh -- including one forexcluding Hardwar from the proposed state -- proves this.
Maybe, the Akali Dal's posturing on Uttaran-chal just when campaigning for the Assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram is about to begin has been prompted by political considerations. Significantly enough, the party has announced that it will take a final view on the whole issue, including the party's electoral alliance with the BJP for the coming elections. There is no doubt that support of the SAD is crucial for the BJP in certain constituencies in Delhi and Rajasthan where the Sikhs have a large presence. A sign of rupture, on the other hand, could prove costly for the party which is hard put to defend its governments in these states. There is nothing new in the SAD's stand on Uttaranchal. Its leaders have been protesting against inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar in the proposed state from the beginning. Whatever the merits of their case, should they decide to part company with the BJP, they can at least claim to do so onthe basis of genuine political differences. After all, the Akalis do not subscribe to the BJP's views on Article 356.
This distinguishes the Akali threat from the earlier ones from Jayalalitha, who found some of her own allies dithering whenever she threatened to pull the rug from under Vajpayee's feet. There are indications that the various party lines may be blurred when Parliament takes up the Bills for the creation of the new states. Almost all political parties, including the BJP, can be accused of taking up the question of reorganisation of states in a cavalier fashion. In their desperation to gain quick political gains, they have ignored the nation's long-term interests. This explains why Laloo Prasad Yadav's RJD first supported the Vananchal move and is now opposing it. It is for the same reason that Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav went back on his word after supporting the demand for Uttaranchal, with Udham Singh Nagar as its part. Why blame them when even national parties like the BJPand the Congress have also been shifting their stand on the question of smaller states?
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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