Office profit

parliamentary presence. Thus the National Conference and Janata Dal S with five MPs each or RLD with six will be happy. Lalu Prasad,likely to lose some Rajya Sabha seats soon,will be relieved. Perhaps the Congress feels that the help of smaller parties those within the UPA,those sitting on the fence,which may be required in cushioning the passage of crucial legislation,calls for a generous gesture.

This apparent tailoring of norms to boost the self-esteem of regional parties has occurred in the midst of what,for a while now,has been demonstrated in elections as a general drift away from smaller parties,from their political plots

increasingly perceived to be out-of-sync with the aspirational politics across the country. Unsurprisingly,leaders of smaller parties are insecure,scared of losing not only their political importance but also the importance of their physical space. What may be a tangible token to symbolise the Congresss appreciation or placation,is a tangible need for smaller parties to maintain the stature of what they symbolise. Advertising must be kept up even as the product vanishes.