Surely uncoordinated

Some of the recent events in high places have shown that the BJP was wise to moot the idea of a coordination committee for its coalition. Un...

Some of the recent events in high places have shown that the BJP was wise to moot the idea of a coordination committee for its coalition. Unfortunately, however, it has betrayed an alarming degree of uncoordination in its attempts at turning that idea into reality. So far, only two facts are known about this body: the identities of the chairman and the convenor, and even that seems to have been decided unilaterally and informally. The articles of association are yet to be decided upon. So far, it has managed to call only one meeting, with no declared agenda. And even that had to be called off for fear of a law and order problem developing in an enclosed space.

Ironically, this is precisely the time when a coordination committee would have been useful. Constituents have asked for the ouster of at least two state governments. Two ministers have been personally attacked by the lone, loud, surviving voice of the Janata Party. One of these has declared that a new life would be preferable to a lifetime ofblackmail. And he, again, has been told to shut up by three other ministers. On the sidelines, the Minister for Railways has started a campaign against the BJP8217;s Vananchal proposal, holding that the area has always been termed Jharkhand, and that the status quo ante ought to be maintained. But he, at least, has presented an issue, a rarity in a government whose internal differences appear to be completely personal. The lack of cohesiveness among members and the absence of coherence on agenda make its predecessor, which was widely disparaged as the handiwork of disreputable cobblers, look like an inexorably purposive monolith in comparison. And the sphinx-like silence of its Prime Minister puts to shame the reticence of his predecessor, who occasioned considerable mirth on this count. It is Prime Minister Vajpayee8217;s duty to manage the contradictions within his coalition. Failing that, he should constitute a body in which differences can be thrashed out before they break out into the public sphere.

That,precisely, is the function of a coordination committee, and almost all coalition governments, both at the Centre and at the state level, have operated them successfully. The present government should, however, appreciate that any such committee shall remain delightfully uncoordinated until its constitution, procedures, areas of competence and aims and objectives are clearly spelled out. Till that is done, it will enjoy no authority. It is juvenile to imagine that the government can simply call its constituents to sit at the same table and watch its problems evaporate. As its own experience with the very first meeting of the committee has showed, it would be impossible for business to be conducted in a situation where Ramakrishna Hegde and the ministers of the AIADMK are seated in such close proximity. Unless a specially constituted corps of Coordination Police were at hand, it would be an invitation to hand-to-hand combat, an activity that is most unbecoming of ministers. But there is a way out for the BJP:let it spell out what the coordination committee is supposed to do, who its members are and who they are answerable to. Such basic information is all that it will take to turn this notional body into an institution that commands the respect of its members.