Columns: Race Course Road

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India Today, April 19, 1999
April 19, 1999

RACE COURSE ROAD
Back to the Masses

Vajpayee's hope is the voting class, not the chatterati

By Prabhu Chawla

Smitten by the ruling classes, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has decided to reach out to the masses. After spending most of his 13 months in regal aloofness, Vajpayee is raring to demolish the protective walls of officialdom. It has finally dawned on him that if he has to go down in history as the most popular non-Congress prime minister, he has to be seen more with the voting classes than seeking approval ratings among the urban chattering crowd. Till recently, Vajpayee scorned the very idea of attending public meetings, travelling far and wide to address party rallies and participating in social gatherings. Today, he revels in doing this.

Vajpayee realises that even for the chief executive of a cadre-based party, a pan-Indian endorsement is a prerequisite for longevity. Other non-Congress prime ministers have been forgotten because they could not expand their popularity base beyond their little regional or sectarian fiefdoms. Vajpayee by comparison is the only non-Congress national icon. To try to detach himself from his national constituency is to run the risk of losing his national status, even his prime ministership.

As part of his mid-course correction strategy, Vajpayee has opted for optimum visibility in place of controlled accessibility. Realising that soon he will have to lead his party in the elections, he is hitting the road with a vengeance. Even the scorching heat does not seem to act as a deterrent. Last week, he travelled to four states; Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat and Goa where, besides attending official meetings, he made it a point to address large gatherings and mingle with local party leaders and workers.

Handicapped by an ineffective party leadership, Vajpayee has taken upon himself the task of dealing with ministers, allies, strategists and even opposition leaders directly. And unlike in the past, he no longer remains a silent participant in these meetings. The once long pauses have now become short. Like H.D. Deve Gowda, he is aggressive in cabinet meetings and other strategy sessions, though unlike the former prime minister he does not have the tendency to doze off.

This new-found attitude has seen both the RSS and his own party leadership falling in line with Vajpayee's thinking and style of governance. RSS and BJP leaders who attacked him for his "anti-national" policies have suddenly turned his staunchest promoters. L.K. Advani with whom he was supposedly having a running feud is now his strongest ally, though the Congress insists that the home minister is the cause of Vajpayee's current woes.

The prime minister may have learnt the art of retaining his popularity, even of managing contradictions. But he is yet to establish himself as an effective administrator. The widespread perception that he and his party are unable to govern continues. What else can explain Vajpayee's failure to fill half a dozen vacancies of governors and remove the pro-Congress nominees who control most of the nationalised banks as well as the Reserve Bank of India. His Government has not been able to break the vice-like grip of Soniaites over most of the cultural and social bodies that are liberally funded by the Centre. Vajpayee may have a mesmerising effect on his audiences but his weakening grip over the Government does not bode well. If he survives the current threat, his next challenge will be how to govern.

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