ELECTIONS '98
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Go, Vajpayee, go!

Seldom is one given a second chance, least of all in politics. Whether it is the commanding heights of the polity or its stygian depths, there is only one take, no liberty of the kind desired by the Aamir Khans of the world. Yet, sometimes, strangely, Fate does play a deft hand, and astound everybody. That is the only kind of explanation for the golden moment facing the caretaker prime minister, A B Vajpayee.

In all this 13+ months in office, not once was he able to take one single decisive step without somebody or the other from his own side blowing the whistle. If it was not Jayalalitha yodelling her heart out, it is a shrill Mamta Banerjee, or a mutinous O P Chautala, who among themselves, jointly and singly, brought the government they were part of, to a pass where it had to fall. Thanks to them, it wasn't just that the ruling alliance was given a bad name, or that the Congress could once again crow that it was the party of natural governance. The real tragedy of the BJP allies was that governance suffered immeasurably.

It is all fine to say that the BJP did not know the coalition dharma, or that it was overbearing in its approach to smaller allies. The nation was witness to how the prime minister went out of his way, during the 13 months he was heading the nation by right, not by obligation, to mollify ruffled feathers, even if it earned for him the title of a soft prime minister. No, the prime minister was well aware of the constraints placed on him as the head of an alliance government, and did everything within his power to retain his friends.

It is just that he was up against forces more devious than he had thought them to be, more perseverant than he cared to admit, and paid the price.

His bad run, at the end of April, was enough to daunt the most valiant among us. For history is proof that not once has a non-Congress head of the government managed to bounce back after his ouster, from Morarji Desai to I K Gujral. Vajpayee had not just this to contend, but two other arms of the State as well, who did not appear to be non-partisan.

Convention had it that the President, and the Election Commission, strive to ward off even a whiff of controversy surrounding the institutions. The two incumbents, hither-to, had given no indication of any personal preference, yet, in the weeks they have been called upon to play a role, have not exactly covered themselves, or their high office, with glory.

It was, in effect, a double whammy. Once the government lost its plea to hold elections early, it was left with facing a long, hard summer, so what if it would rain cats and dogs in some parts of the country? What could a caretaker government do that a lame-duck one could not, and it seems the Congress, which seems to have been the favoured one, was only waiting for the counting of votes to take its place at the head of the government.

And the BJP's bawdy language bespoke despondency, if not downright desperation. After castigating its predecessors for emphasising personality over policies, the BJP was on the verge of focusing on its enemy number one to the exclusion of everything else. Unless, it was someone's bright idea of policy to drag in the foreign origins of Sonia Gandhi -- foreign policy, of course.

But there seems to have been a turnaround in perceptions, understandably with the intervention of the prime minister himself. Realising the risks involved in making the forthcoming election a Vajpayee versus Sonia encounter, the premier seems to have decided to take on the task of governance, which had suffered when he had the actual mandate for it, head-on.

The timing could not have been more propitious. The nation is sitting on an ample buffer stock of foodgrains; inflation, that bugbear of even totalitarian regimes, is firmly under check. And the prime minister's goodwill, never on the decline even during the most trying times of his career, still outranks that of his nearest rival.

Constitutional appointees may have been against him, but the Constitution itself, it seems, is not. There was nothing called a caretaker prime minister in the Constitution, nor is there a check on what a PM heading a government facing the polls can and cannot do, when the Model Code of Conduct has not come into force. This, in effect, means that for the duration, details such as numbers in Parliament fade into the background, and the government can go about, well, with governance.

Which is what this government is all set to do. Over the next few weeks, till the election dates are formally announced and the code of conduct ties it down, Vajpayee and Co are going to push through some of the more contentious -- nevertheless, overdue -- measures. And, yes, the Opposition is not going to be entirely happy at this, but the more shrill it voices its criticism the greater will be the votes being added to the government's kitty.

It can be called government by ordinance, or a bypassing of Parliament, the sole repository as well as source of all power in a democracy. But again, this will be going against the public sentiment, which, shocked by the callous display of mendacity and selfish doublespeak on the part of those elected to the hallowed institution will even vote to pull down the structure if given half a chance.

Funny, how what seemed like a last-ditch battle only a few days ago, suddenly appears to have become a most engrossing electoral battle in history. It also brings into focus just what the so-called defenders of secularism and probity had in mind for themselves when they sought the coveted post of caretaker prime minister. No wonder, the ones with stratagem on their minds are the loudest in their protests.

Saisuresh Sivaswamy