| One lesson we have learnt from Indian politics is that you
cannot ever count out a politician. The political wheel continues to turn in India. Take
Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In 1984, he lost the Lok Sabha contest from Gwalior and the BJP was
reduced to two seats in that Parliament. Today, he is the prime minister in a BJP-led
Government. Fresh from three stunning electoral defeats for the BJP in the assembly polls,
this man, known more for fancy prose than a stomach for a fight, is suddenly aggressive.
After he assumed charge eight months ago, we predicted the political minefields he would
traverse in our cover stories, "Perilously Yours" and "Crown of
Thorns". But now, using the electoral defeat as a fulcrum, Vajpayee appears to have
finally decided to attack his detractors within the party by appointing three hand-picked
loyalists as ministers. Vajpayee, who has decided to adopt the economic mantra as an
ultimate fall-back strategy, may do both himself and his party a favour if he can sustain
his current persona. If he does, this unlikely general will find followers. Our second political personality is another example of the political wheel
turning a full circle but with a difference. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh
has won his battle. The only one to buck the anti-incumbency trend in the assembly
elections -- and only the second incumbent in recent political history after Laloo Prasad
Yadav to win from a position of disadvantage. He shed his public image of being only
pro-rich and pro-business to work the crowds with astute moves like decentralising
authority and depending more on panchayats. He also fought dissidence in the state unit of
the Congress, won over formidable rivals in the party and kept out a resurgent BJP. Last
week, Senior Editor Sumit Mitra put in nine hours of flying time over two days in a
helicopter following the chief minister's Beechcraft as Digvijay criss-crossed the state.
Says Mitra: "He has effectively combined the charkha and the chip, the past and the
present, change and continuity." This is the other valuable political lesson: he who
balances best normally wins.
(Aroon Purie) |
