State satraps again

State satraps again

The results of the assembly elections clearly show that hopes of a two-party system emerging on its own were misplaced. Far from that, the two national parties -- the BJP and the Congress -- are the ones which suffered the most in these elections. It is the smaller, regional parties that have filled the vacuum created by these parties. Take the case of Haryana where the BJP could not even retain the seats it had in the previous Assembly even as its ally, the Indian National Lok Dal, registered a spectacular victory.

Om Prakash Chautala, who enjoys a clear majority on his own, is not dependent on the BJP for his survival. The same phenomenon manifested itself in Orissa where the Biju Janata Dal's performance was better than that of the BJP. It will give Navin Patnaik greater freedom in the running of his government. In Bihar, the reason why the National Democratic Alliance's hope of wiping out Laloo Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal did not fructify is because the BJP failed to hold on to its vote banks in all the regions of the state. Even in the by-elections held in states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the BJP's performance was nothing to write home about. In comparison, its allies did much better like in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. There is a clear message in all this.

At the Centre, some sections in the BJP may believe that it is a big brother who can afford to browbeat the smaller parties into submission. It is this belief that has suffered a body blow. The BJP's allies have been keeping quiet on many of the issues raked up by the Sangh Parivar in the belief that it would not do them good to antagonise the BJP. It was this attitude of playing safe that prompted even a leader of the stature of DMK chief M. Karunanidhi to toe the BJP line on the issue of allowing government employees to join the RSS. He changed his stance only when he came under relentless attack from the secular forces within and without the state. Seen against this backdrop, the results will embolden the allies to assert themselves in the running of the NDA. The conduct of some of the organisations affiliated to the Sangh Parivar in the past had given the impression that they were eager to implement their own agenda forgetting that the mandate the NDA enjoys is limited to its election manifesto. It maynot be unrealistic to see the setback the BJP suffered as a warning from the voters to conduct itself in a better manner and stick to the NDA manifesto.

The belief in the Congress that it can bounce back to power on the anti-incumbency vote in the next elections has been punctured by the results which confirm the increasing marginalisation of the party. The voter has opted for the Congress or the BJP as the case may be only where it did not have a clear third option. Clearly, Sonia Gandhi's leadership no longer sparks. The Congress performance under her is only a shade better than under Sitaram Kesri. It is not that the party has lost its relevance. The Congress is still the choice for a large number of voters, cutting across classes and castes. But it is only an imaginative leadership, aware of the grassroots aspirations, that can put the party in the fighting mode in any future elections.