Realignment rallies

The prospect of the present coalition8217;s stability is, of course, a poser that few can answer with any degree of certainty. There is another question, however, that should concern the Prime Minister and his party considerably more.

Vajpayee has taken the occasionto bemoan the lack of a coalition culture, of which he sees evidence in the unconcealed bickerings among the partners of the ruling alliance. The point is whether the manner of the coalition8217;s formation itself was in consonance with such a culture. Were not the strains, in other words, inevitable in any alliance that captures power without any clarity on areas of agreement?

The Prime Minister has talked of the National Agenda of Governance, but this was one of post-poll formulation and adoption. It goes without saying that the agenda would have been easier to implement and would have become less of a source of friction, if it had constituted the electoral platform of the coalition.

This truth needs to be accepted if the lessons of the experience of the last few months are not to be lost upon the BJP and if the country is to be spared the indefinite prolongation of an era of chaotic and chronically unstable coalitions.

Karunanidhi and Gopalasamy may have agreed to bury the hatchet in the new politicalsituation. The DMK may be only too willing to forget its anti-Aryan8217; fundamentals and forge unprecedented ties between Dravidian8217; power in the state and the new dispensation in New Delhi. All this is not going to substitute for a reasonably durable alliance that is proof against damage from unbridgeable differences on such issues of practical importance and popular interest as Cauvery. The moral of the story is relevant to every region and state where the coalition experiment is on or is likely to be initiated.