After the recent assembly poll success, it’s celebration time for the BJP. But the way it is jubilant about its election managers and software experts, it seems it has well and truly written the Congress epitaph. If BJP leaders care to pause and ponder, I will remind them what happened just five years ago. In Rajasthan, the Congress had made a bigger killing — 155 seats against a stalwart like Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. In the combined assembly of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the Congress retained power and actually gained seats. Even in Delhi, the Congress had a bigger victory with 53 seats. The same celebrated poll managers of 2003 were very much in the BJP then. Were they dismissed as ineffectual? Was the BJP finished? Was the leadership of Atal Behari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani rejected? The answer came in just eight months when, in the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress lost to the BJP in those very states. Of course, it’s time for the Congress and its rank and file to introspect and get their act together. But, who knows, the Congress may well turn the tables in the Lok Sabha polls in 2004. Clearly the BJP hasn’t got a case for acting so jubilant. Everybody can understand what role 10 years of anti-incumbency played in Madhya Pradesh. In Chhattisgarh, it was a close fight. The caste factor sank the Congress ship in Rajasthan because Jats — traditionally the core of the party — never got along with Ashok Gehlot. But Gehlot won’t be a factor in the Lok Sabha polls and the Jats could trigger a reverse swing. Victories and defeats are integral to elections. If political parties go out of their way to blow up successes today, failures may weigh heavy tomorrow. The party’s loyal nominees Democracy is as much about conventions as it is about clauses. So it never required any fine print in the Constitution for nominated Rajya Sabha members to conduct themselves above the humdrum of party politics. These members were handpicked for accomplishments in difference walks of life. They honoured the presidential discretion in their nomination by distancing themselves, irrespective of individual leanings, from any party line. But not Hema Malini and Dara Singh. In the first few weeks of their nomination, they campaigned for a particular party and crossed all limits of decorum. If you carefully listen to Dara Singh’s speeches, it sounds as if he is ignorant about his status in the House. He thinks the BJP has nominated him. Probably no one has told him he is a non-aligned MP. This is unfortunate. I remember when Nurul Hasan was about to be inducted into the Union cabinet, he resigned from the Rajya Sabha and was brought back with a party nomination from Uttar Pradesh. In the recent past Kuldip Nayar and Shabana Azmi, despite their personal leanings, never crossed the Lakshman rekha. Lata Mangeshkar has conducted herself exemplarily. So has Chandan Mitra, despite his obvious affinity to a particular party. If one must participate in active politics, one should come through the appropriate channel. I have high regard for Shatrughan Sinha and Vinod Khanna, who fought elections to enter Parliament as loyal party members. What surprises me are the double standards. Those who opposed V.N. Pandey’s appointment as the UPPCC chief are now openly appreciating the party activities of Hema Malini and Dara Singh. In a league of her own Spare a thought for poor Mamata Banerjee. For three months now, she has been a Union minister without a portfolio, without an office, without a retinue of attendants and now even without an official phone. Just imagine her frustration. She has got nine MPs but is still in political wilderness. Now even if the prime minister allots her a ministry, she will have less than six months to perform. It is difficult to show results in six months and she will find it hard to retain the Trinamool Congress’ strength unless she churns out something to impress her electorate. Fewer MPs will, of course, mean even lesser bargaining power. Even the most ardent of Didi’s admirers would agree she has no one to blame but herself. Few politicians are fortunate enough to earn the survivor tag, but the Bengal tigress seems to have exhausted most of those nine lives cats are endowed with. She began her stint in the Vajpayee government with her favourite portfolio, railways. From that high point, her tamasha over the George Fernandes episode landed her in a situation where she had to leave the NDA after being humiliated at the Steering Committee. Ramvilas Paswan went to the extent of calling her a langri billi (lame cat that preys in-house). The author is a Congress MP
