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EDITORIAL
Postpone
Party
In Uttar
Pradesh and elsewhere, the BJP is addicted to quick-fix solutions
 If
the appointment of Rajnath Singh as the new chief minister of Uttar Pradesh
gives political observers an unmistakable sense of deja vu, it is only
to be expected. Like Sushma Swaraj being pressed into service on the eve
of assembly elections in Delhi in 1998, Rajnath is being asked to deliver
the near impossible. In little over a year-the Uttar Pradesh Assembly
ends its five-year term in early 2002-he is expected to arrest a prolonged
period of non-governance, reinvigorate a completely dispirited party organisation,
take on a rampant Mulayam Singh Yadav and negotiate with the loose confederation
of ransom seekers-ranging from Naresh Agarwal of the Loktantrik Congress
Party to the maverick Raghuraj Pratap Singh-who make up the BJP-led coalition
in the state. The problem is really of the BJP's own making. For a year
it persisted with a completely ineffective chief minister it had plucked
out of retirement, refusing to replace him even when it had occasion to.
In short it followed the line of least resistance, something that is becoming
the BJP's staple in one state after another.
These are
not the characteristics of a party that prides itself-or used to pride
itself-on thinking ahead of its rivals. Neither do they become one that
heads a reasonably well-regarded Union Government and should be looking
to winning upcoming assembly elections. Instead, the BJP keeps shooting
itself in the foot. Uttar Pradesh is, of course, the most glaring example.
Gujarat, where the annihilation of the party in panchayat elections suggests
a dramatic shift in fortunes, is another. The local leadership has explained
that defeat with sophistry and gone back to complacency. The central party
office is no less culpable. National-level general secretaries of the
BJP have still not been allotted states to look after. Why bother, when
you can wait till the 11th hour-and rush in a Sushma, a Rajnath or just
any old scapegoat.
Cracker
of a Campaign
Thanking
children for restoring Diwali's dignity
 Civic
pride and community action are not terms commonly used to describe life
in Delhi. This past week, however, there was heartening evidence of collective
action, initiated by little schoolchildren and aimed at making Diwali
noise-free, pollution-neutral and the dignified celebration it is meant
to be. While firecracker manufacturers may complain of a "conspiracy",
the fact is the largely NGO-led attempt to educate citizens about the
negative impact of pyromania has made substantial progress. By targeting
schools, the environmentalists have spoken directly to the children who
are, largely, the users of firecrackers and the excuse to buy them. Like
in Calcutta, where court restrictions on sound levels have had some effect,
Delhi's Diwalis are becoming more the festival of light they should be
and less a manic competition of noise generation. If cracker sales are
undiminished in smaller towns and even in Mumbai, it is only an indication
of the battle that remains to be won.
In a land
of tetchy sensitivities, it is never easy to persuade people of the need
to insulate private space from public domain. Be they jagrans or calls
to the faithful from the local mosque or early morning prayers at the
gurdwara or undue liberties on Holi, the curbing of ostentation does not
take away from the sacredness. Sadly, such arguments often get distorted
and are given denominational colours in India. In a time when discouraging
the use of plastic bags is seen as a jute baron's secret attack on a petrochemical
tycoon, really, anything is possible. That is why the campaign against
firecrackers is welcome. The innocent children who have led it can't,
after all, be accused of anything more than environmental consciousness.
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