May 11, 1998

By Javed M Ansari

The quintessential Hindu joint family is often a collection of fragile egos. It may thus seem apt that the first enduring BJP-led Government should see the party that speaks for the politically conservative Hindu working overtime to mollify egos. While prima donna Jayalalitha has made her anger most public, other partners too are miffed.

With 181 MPs, the BJP is the single largest party in the Lok Sabha. Sheer size -- the AIADMK is a distant second, with 18 MPs -- makes the BJP the hub of the coalition. Size also has its disadvantages, making the party overly vulnerable to pressure. Politics apart, there has been sheer mismanagement. For weeks, the coalition has felt the absence of an institutionalised mechanism for consultations. The Coordination Committee has only just been formed. As Nitish Kumar, Samata Party leader and railway minister, puts it, "Much of our problems could have been avoided if we had a coordination panel in place."

Nitish had proposed such a panel at the very outset, being backed by Naveen Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The BJP, however, depended on party leaders deputed as coalition managers. It was only after the Jayalalitha missile struck that a Coordination Committee became imperative. Asked to put the panel in place, Jaswant Singh, BJP leader and Planning Commission deputy chairman, scheduled its first meeting for April 24. Instantly, Jayalalitha bellowed from Chennai, "I haven't been consulted." The meeting was postponed to May 9. The egos were still in business.

Predictably, the Tamil trauma remains Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's top problem. Subramanian Swamy, Janata Party president, has walked out of the national alliance. He says he is now working towards a non-BJP "Secular Front". Swamy may not actually topple the Government but Vajpayee is wary of his nuisance value.

With the BJP looking susceptible, other partners have adopted Jayalalitha's tactics. In Himachal Pradesh, it was Sukh Ram who tried to hold the BJP-led regime hostage, wanting the Union Law Ministry to review corruption cases against him. Eventually, the prime minister cajoled him to resign.

Ram was small fry. Giving Vajpayee the real shivers is the eastern wind: prickly partners in Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa. In Bihar, Samata is rampant. When S.S. Bhandari, a BJP veteran, was appointed state governor, Samata claimed it had not been informed. Says Digvijay Singh, Samata MP, "We were the first to take on Laloo (Yadav) and any attempt to undermine us in the state will not be tolerated." Over two Lok Sabha elections ('96 and '98), the Samata-BJP alliance has pared Laloo's Lok Sabha strength from 31 to 17. It stands a good chance of winning the next assembly polls.

The story is similar in West Bengal, where a lasting BJP-Trinamool Congress alliance can damage the ruling Left Front. While the parties will jointly contest the panchayat elections in end May, relations are far from smooth. To finalise the panchayat pact, Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool queen bee, had to bypass the antagonistic local BJP leadership and approach central leaders. Says Tapan Sikdar, state BJP president: "It is impossible to reason with Mamata. She is too arrogant."

In Orissa too, there is a conflict between the local BJP and the bjd. The BJP has proposed Naveen become chief minister should the alliance come to power. It realises Naveen would rather remain at the Centre and hopes that its own candidate will then head the government. The cosy equation is not acceptable to Bijoy Mahapatra, a senior BJD leader with chief ministerial aspirations, and he is making the usual noises.

With a built-in opposition like the one he has, eastern India will not be Vajpayee's favourite tourist spot in a hurry. Come to think of it, he must be looking towards the May 9 Coordination Panel meeting with trepidation.

Issue Contents | Write to us | Subscriptions

© Living Media India Ltd