No closure

There has been another development in Jharkhand,a big one,and yet there is no closure and not much clarity either. The BJP has,finally,taken a call and withdrawn support to the Shibu Soren government,deciding to abandon its efforts at forming a government. That may end the mad-go-round for the BJP for now,but it doesnt for the resource-rich,unfortunate state with its unparalleled governance deficit. So a BJP that has quit being kept in suspension and suspense by Shibu and Hemant Soren about a rotational administration should ask itself how it got here. It didnt begin with Sorens vote in favour of the UPA during the parliamentary cut motion last month,although it expedited the unravelling. It began the moment the BJP decided to support as chief minister a man an MP at the moment who had to become an MLA by June 30 to remain CM in any case whose only political modus operandi has been a pathological inconsistency born of an incurable capriciousness. If the BJP has realised now that Soren,who has switched alliances like day becomes night and night turns to day over the past couple of decades,was severely denting its own credibility,making it look desperately opportunistic,it knew his record all along,to say nothing of the possibility of the loss of face it has since suffered.

However,what goes for the BJP,does for the Congress too. The two national parties are guilty of the same politics of convenience that has characterised the JMM and compromised law and order and governance in the state. Whether or not the Congress moves in on Ranchi now,with or without conditions,it must remember that a national party must play a proactive role in Jharkhand and not leave the state to fritter away under the caprices of a leadership with no virtues other than being regional. That is what the BJP,which needs to show a firm hand in dealing with allies and what it couldnt display in Jharkhand,too should keep in mind. There is a need for the national parties to place-in their allies and not let go of the weight that is naturally theirs.

Its not surprising that Madhu Koda has come to symbolise and sum up governance in Jharkhand. Political expediency without coherence in programme and policy led to Soren calling off anti-Maoist operations soon after he took over,as the BJP watched. If Jharkhand is to break with its trivialised politics,both national parties have to accept responsibility for the state. To regain sight of why Jharkhand was formed,the numbers game must first stop.