In bits and pieces

It has been a year without a general election. In times when elections have always been round the corner, or nearer, that is an achievemen...

It has been a year without a general election. In times when elections have always been round the corner, or nearer, that is an achievement by itself. Indeed, despite the pulls and tugs, in spite of the cracks within, the BJP with its motley group of 24 has managed to make the Centre hold. Was it the fact of the NDA being a pre-election alliance with a common manifesto and not another hasty post-election grouping? Does it signify a maturing of the much-talked about quot;coalition dharmaquot;? Or is it just A.B. Vajpayee? The answer, to a large extent, lies in that last question and that is the problem. Over the last year, Vajpayee has been seen to be the greatest strength of the Vajpayee government. His fabled moderating touch has reconciled, or at least appeared to, the contradictions in the ruling alliance; his charisma has papered over the fissures that have opened up from time to time. With the BJP8217;s allies pointedly swearing allegiance to the PM and to him alone, the Vajpayee Factor, not the national agenda ofgovernance, has underwritten the stability of the government. The problem is that over-reliance on one individual may have precluded the working out of institutional ways and means of sharing power among disparate parties at the Centre. It remains to be seen whether or not it has stunted the evolution of a coalition culture.

Away from the Centre, 2000 saw the resumption of the states reorganisation process after a lull of almost three decades. Three new states were born to the Indian Union late this year 8212; Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand. For the first time, the reorganisation has affected the Hindi heartland, which had remained so impervious to change through the earlier bouts of the country8217;s remapping. Now there is Uttaranchal, in fulfillment of the demand voiced by the people of the Kumaon and Garhwal hills for over three decades. Chhattisgarh, which promises self-rule to the tribal people who constitute a significant section of its population. And Jharkhand, at last, won after an agitation lasting nearly 50 years. Much, of course, remains to be done for these new states to live up to their promise of bringing government closer home. If the new states are not to remain mere administrative units, if they are to hasten a process of political devolution, the leadership and the agenda will have to strike roots in the localsoil, and not be dictated 8212; as they are now 8212; by imperious party high commands in New Delhi. The new year will answer that other question too: Have the new arrivals opened up the feared Pandora8217;s Box? Harit Pradesh in Uttar Pradesh, Vindyachal in Madhya Pradesh, Telengana in Andhra Pradesh, Vidarbha in Maharashtra, Kodagu in Karnataka, Gorkhaland in West Bengal, Bodoland in Assam8230;.

There are so many images that we carry with us into the new year which will see a crucial round of assembly elections, and spectres too. Of the Ayodhya issue wending its way from the BJP8217;s backburner onto national centrestage. Of tired Third Front leaders again attempting to put it back together. Of CPIM without Jyoti Basu. Of Sonia Gandhi being elected Queen of Congress. Of a hesitant peace flowering in Kashmir.