The road taken

The sudden explosion of the politics of the early 90s into the headlines of 2009 is unlikely to change the basic direction in which Indias politics is moving,pushed as that is by long-term trends: a reforming economy,an ever-maturing electorate,a more aspirational middle class. But within that broad trend there is scope for much backsliding,whether by an individual,a faction or a party.

The Babri Masjid demolition was for many ultimately a failure of the state administration,and thus of the man ultimately responsible: Kalyan Singh,then UP chief minister. Singh has walked a long road since then. His chumminess with Mulayam Singh Yadavs Samajwadi Party before the Lok Sabha elections was a cynical coming together of two players without an effort to create a common ideological space which did nothing to bolster eithers reputation as a reliable player. And now that the folly of that tie-up has been made painfully clear following the wipeout of the SP in the recent UP bypolls,Singh is looking back to his old position as the hero of the 90s politics of Hindu revivalism,making statements about the Ram temple being his main aim in life and telling this newspaper that it was he who had made the BJP a potent force,after taking over when the BJP had a mere six MLAs in the UP House. A more obvious job application can hardly be imagined.

For the BJP,there are two roads to be taken. For Kalyan Singh to revel in the politics of the 90s is one thing,and it might make limited political sense for a man otherwise out in the wilderness. But the BJP,however much it might feel that it too is in the wilderness,is not. It is Parliaments second-largest party and the natural opposition. Along one road lies the ability to re-imagine the centre space in Indias politics,and to dump the exhausted politics of tired complaint. Along the other lies Kalyan Singh,and a self-defeating attempt to recapture a mis-spent youth. Which path the UP state party chooses in the lead-up to assembly elections will be instructive.