The Hindu Business Line : From crisis to crisis

THERE is something grievously wrong with the NDA Government at the Centre, which should be a cause for serious concern for the nation. The overall perception of the outfit in the eyes of the common man has taken a severe beating, not only because of a general sense of drift that has gripped policy-making and implementation over the past year and more, but also because of the growing signs that the alliance itself is nothing more than a marriage of convenience for every single partner (except the BJP), the central objective being to remain in the seat of power for as long as possible.

One result of this has been the pathetic sight of the Government lurching from one crisis to another, the levity being unwittingly provided by the "grave" utterances made by a clutch of leaders who are clearly of the view that crises are times when the nation must be made to see that Government is not one to be trifled with.

The unfortunate part is that, even during such times when the Government is expected to provide "leadership" to the nation, faux pas are committed which merely go to prove beyond a shadow of doubt that the motley NDA crowd at the Centre does not have, so to speak, an integrated mind. The critical inference would be that it really has no business to be ruling the roost in New Delhi. Of course, the valid point will be made that if the NDA is not worthy of controlling the Central Government, even less can be said about any other political formation (none exists at the moment) that can conceivably play a similar role. The "crisis" which has taken hold of the nation just now is of course that forced on it by the recent massacre of women and children in Jammu and Kashmir in which 34 lives have been lost till now. The question is: In what way will New Delhi react, if it chooses to react at all, particularly in a situation where the perpetrators have been doing their dirty work for some time now and who are not likely to be deflected from their mission by homilies and pious threats of action issued by New Delhi.

If (unreliable?) Press reports are any indication, the Prime Minister has begun "growling", the speculation doing the rounds being whether it will be transformed into a bite at some point of time. Perhaps there is merit in letting the growl be heard for some time before the bite materialises, but then a senior Union Minister has taken on himself the direction of Government policy and has said very clearly indeed (since uncomfortable Press reports are usually "incorrect", a clarification could be on the way) that India will not engage in military retaliation, at least till the J&K elections are over.

It is not known how the present crisis will run itself out, but it could come in handy for Mr Vajpayee to defuse the Gujarat crisis, which has harmed the BJP's political prospects no end. The December attack on Parliament effectively diverted public attention from the crisis of the Tehelka disclosures, the ripples of which are still very evident. One wonders how long this lurching from crisis to crisis will continue, and which crisis will finally engulf the NDA and suck it into oblivion.

Ranabir Ray Choudhury

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