Death by desertion

The BJP is in soul-searching mode. It now admits to numerous failures that it had arrogantly brushed aside only last week. Party spokespe...

The BJP is in soul-searching mode. It now admits to numerous failures that it had arrogantly brushed aside only last week. Party spokespersons today admit that there was a general failure to assess the popular mood and decry the fact that they had misread the impact rising prices would have on their electoral fortunes. They also, from time to time, continue to rail against inner party dissension and point frantic fingers at factors as varied as the weather and global economic forces. Surprisingly, in this orgy of penitence, almost every party functionary has preferred to ignore what is, arguably, the single most important factor for the defeat the consolidation of the minority vote against the party.

Just ten months ago, when A.B. Vajpayee was being projected as an 8220;able8221; leader who would provide a 8220;stable8221; government, this was not the case. Vajpayee8217;s image of a moderate politician committed to good governance and not enamoured of the lunatic agendas of some of the more extremist elements in the SanghParivar carried conviction even with those who were not traditional BJP voters.

The party had also, at that stage, made overt and covert overtures to the minorities, particularly Muslims, by inviting them to iftaar parties and staging public meetings for them. The Sikhs were, of course, wooed assiduously, with a whole bundle of goodies, including that of making Chandigarh the capital of Punjab. Eight months of governance at the helm, and this entire project has been laid waste. Vajpayee8217;s moderate image has been severely compromised with the Christians, thanks largely to the machinations of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

The Muslims were riled over the attempt to saffronise the educational system and Ali Mian8217;s recent call to Muslims to withdraw their children from UP schools symbolised this fissure. The Sikhs, too, were disenchanted over the BJP taking their support for granted and for failing to fulfil past promises, even as the Udham Singh Nagar controversy kept tensions between the Akalis andthe BJP alive.

The result of all this animosity was made patently clear as the people went to vote. In the event, it was the Congress that clearly benefitted. Take Delhi. Apart from a couple of pockets where there were creditable non-BJP candidates, Muslims and Christians plumbed for the Congress with a vengeance. The Agra East assembly election result confirmed the trend.

The Congress didn8217;t win that seat, the BJP did, but its candidate did well largely because of support from Muslim voters. The Sikhs, while they may not have been enthusiastic about the party that had presided over the 1984 riots, were not particularly enamoured of the BJP either this time. In fact, a good number of Sikh votes in Delhi did swing the Congress way for what was perhaps the first time since 1984. A trend that was even more discernible in Adampur, Punjab, where an assembly election was also held this time.

The Congress candidate won by a hair8217;s breath here, but he had won in a constituency that had faithfully returned Akalicandidates in every major election for three decades. As Prime Minister Vajpayee pointed out a day after the verdict, Indian democracy is vibrant. People, if they feel cheated by their leaders, will vote with their feet. Death by desertion, is the sentence they mete out.