Too many Red faces

Let us begin with Bihar. Two judgements are expected next week, from the people of Bihar in the Vidhan Sabha elections, and from the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of those polls. Nobody shall blame Dr Manmohan Singh should the United Progressive Alliance perform poorly. The Congress has all but wiped its hands of the state, putting up just 51 candidates for a 243-strong Assembly. A party that held an overwhelming majority in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha as late as January 1990 now plays the part of Lalu Prasad Yadav8217;s poodle. Win or lose, the Rashtriya Janata Dal boss will try to further undermine the Congress. However, these political issues lie in Sonia Gandhi8217;s domain, not that of Dr Manmohan Singh.

He will find it harder to evade a punch from the Supreme Court. Their Lordships have already declared that the decision to dissolve the Bihar assembly earlier this year was 8220;unconstitutional8221;. They had not however delivered the full judgement. Nor overturned the act of dissolution as they might have done. What happens if the Supreme Court chooses to spell out just who was responsible for the 8220;unconstitutional8221; shenanigans in Patna and New Delhi?

Nothing in the Constitution says the Union cabinet must accept a recommendation from a governor. The prime minister and his colleagues were expected to use their own best judgement before taking so grave 8212; and so undemocratic 8212; a decision as dissolving an assembly before it met even once. Buta Singh8217;s enlightenment about horse-trading, the midnight summons to the cabinet over a weekend, that hasty fax to the president in distant Moscow 8212; this is an affair that reeks of rotting fish.

Some have sought to deflect the blame, to Rashtrapati Bhavan. This is unjust. At best, the president can ask the cabinet to reconsider. But this is where Dr Manmohan Singh and Shivraj Patil come squarely into the picture. Both have earned a reputation as honest men, people whose word you can take without fear. Where a president might have hesitated with other ministers, he would have believed that these two intelligent and trustworthy men would never do anything shabby. The prime minister and the home minister haven8217;t just let the president down, they took a hammer to their own reputation when they signed that fax to Moscow. Will their word carry the same moral authority now that you know how they bent to blackmail from their allies?

They cannot even claim the fig leaf of giving Bihar a decent administration. Constitutionally, the Union government assumes all responsibility for a state after imposing president8217;s rule. This puts the burden of explaining the Naxalites8217; audacious 8220;Operation Jailbreak8221; on the Union home minister. How on earth did they stage a raid on Jehanabad8217;s jail when the whole state was reportedly flooded with security personnel?

The embarrassment caused by the Maoists in Bihar goes hand in hand with the disruption planned by Marxists elsewhere. The Left Front and the Samajwadi Party have joined hands to turn Indian diplomacy on its head. Speaking at a conclave in Lucknow, they demanded that the Manmohan Singh government tilt towards Iran should it be censured for nuclear proliferation. 8220;Together, we have over 110 MPs in the Lok Sabha,8221; was the message of the day. The words, 8220;change your vote, or face the consequences,8221; may not have been spoken, but they were heard loud and clear.

This is gamesmanship taken to new depths. It ignored the fact that Iran has been condemned by the United Nations agencies something that was absent in the case of Iraq, and that India8217;s security environment would be notably degraded in the event of Iran manufacturing nuclear weapons. It is a clear ploy for Muslim votes, given that the threat was made in front of the assembled Islamic clergy. The Khilafat agitation was the last attempt to make domestic politics hostage to events in a foreign country; it led to a heightened sense of Muslim separatism. And, of course, it tears the prime minister8217;s authority to shreds.

Dr Manmohan Singh was fighting an uphill battle in trying to improve relations with the United States. His former external affairs minister stands exposed as an unreconstructed Cold Warrior. But staying true to India8217;s interests means the prime minister faces his first head-on clash with the Left Front. After that open threat in Lucknow it is impossible for either side to withdraw without loss of face. All this and the Volcker Committee Report too!

November 13 was the 125th birth anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the last great Sikh ruler in India. 8220;One day, everything will be red!8221; he predicted on seeing the tide of British acquisitions creeping toward Punjab. Watching events unfold, I believe next week shall leave several Congressmen, if not 8220;Red8221;, then red-faced!