Present tense

It was the unlikeliest of developments to be passed off as a birthday present. The truce between Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and the Reddy brothers was ribbon-wrapped as a show of unity,what Yeddyurappa called a birthday gift for the BJPs L.K. Advani,who turned 82 on Sunday. There was even the spectacle of solidarity: a smiling Karnataka chief minister holding raised hands with both the Reddys in New Delhi. The bonhomie would have fooled nobody,least of all the protagonists. Reports suggest that the dissident camp is still baying for the chief ministers blood. And the most powerful man in Karnataka? He was reduced to shedding tears on prime time television. The compromise formula a minister exiting,officials replaced may have bought the Karnataka wing of the BJP time. But the clock is ticking,and another round of bickering cannot be said to be averted.

The sordid drama was regrettable on many counts. For one,it exposed the unsavoury interface between business and politics. Then there are too many questions left hanging. Can partisan interests hold a government hostage? Can bureaucrats and district officials become pawns in chess games that their political masters play? For the steel frame to be so blatantly twisted speaks of its complete subordination to the political process. But the most disquieting aspect of the drama was its pettiness. Whatever the validity of the Reddy brothers grouses,they seemed centred on their ability to control the mine-rich Bellary district. Absent through this long-drawn-out political crisis was even the pretence of larger ideas and principles. This,when floods in Karnataka have left 192 dead and thousands homeless. Just when the state government needed to be most visible,it was held hostage by petty powerplays.

The BJP managers may have averted regime change in Bangalore for now. But the clumsy compromise,that too played out in public,has highlighted the absence of a strong central leadership that can exert its will. There is nothing in the sudden show of brotherhood between Yeddyurappa and the Reddy siblings to provide confidence that the compromise has been anything but expedient.