Coalition era

The results of the 13th Lok Sabha elections clearly show that coalition politics is here to stay. The success the National Democratic All...

The results of the 13th Lok Sabha elections clearly show that coalition politics is here to stay. The success the National Democratic Alliance has achieved should be seen as an endorsement of the policy of consensus that the BJP tried to pursue in the 12th Lok Sabha. It was thoughtful of the party to have broadened the base of the coalition it led by welcoming into its fold new parties.

Small wonder that in comparison to the Congress, the BJP appeared more accommodative, realistic and capable of successfully managing political contradictions. More than anything else, it is the knack of leading a coalition that was on test in these elections and the BJP has definitely won on this score. Which means that the party is shouldering the responsibility of pursuing consensual politics. There is no other way the BJP can manage the affairs of the nation. After all, the party is dependent on the support of 24 heterogeneous parties which are united only in their opposition to the Congress.

It is a truism that AtalBehari Vajpayee, who has emerged as the tallest national leader, alone has the stature to take up this challenge. The victory is clearly his and that of the accommodative spirit the BJP displayed during the 16 months of its tenure.

It was not for want of a desire to rule by consensus that the Vajpayee government fell. Hence, it should not be difficult for a liberal politician like Vajpayee to see the new House as one grand coalition and treat it as such. If the BJP is comfortable in a grouping which has the DMK, the Shiv Sena and the Janata Dal U as its constituents, it should not be a problem for it to seek cooperation from the Congress.

There is, perhaps, no other way it can manage some of the political, economic and foreign policy issues facing the nation. In the past, the BJP showed considerable political dynamism when it pursued the economic reforms agenda which had been willy-nilly set in motion by the Congress. Unfortunately the Congress, which should have reciprocated in equal measure, wasguided more by petty political gains than the larger national interest.

Whether it was on the Insurance Bill or disinvestment in the public sector, the Congress attitude was one of disinterestedness, if not outright non-cooperation. As a result, the reforms process could not make the desired headway. Politics was allowed to keep the two apart even when Indian soldiers fought a pitched battle to evict the Pakistani intruders from the snow-capped Kargil heights.

On the foreign policy front, Vajpayee has spoken about carrying forward his ill-fated bus diplomacy. This is possible only if it has the requisite support in the House. The issue of signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty has been hanging fire for want of a consensus. The Vajpayee government has taken some initiative to sort it out with the Americans although the progress External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh has achieved in his talks with the Clinton administration is not yet known. This will surely be one of the priority items for the newgovernment.

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Needless to say, any forward movement on CTBT is possible only if the government evolves a consensus in the new House. The voters have definitely given their mandate for such an approach. It is now the turn of the National Democratic Alliance to live up to its image as practitioners of the politics of consensus.